Conor McGregor recounted his heated sparring exchange with former two-time world champion Paulie Malignaggi

McGregor admits that, at one point, he was worried that there may have been some considerable damage suffered by the New Yorker at his own hands.

The Irishman, however, is likely to have passed comment in jest following claims made by Malignaggi that he was “set up” by the UFC lightweight champion and his camp. Malignaggi had an acrimonious departure from McGregor’s training base in Las Vegas and has been unrelenting in his verbal assault on the Dublin-native.

McGregor told press gathered to witness his public workout that there were ‘concerns’ for Malignaggi following their second sparring exchange:

“When I heard the stuff he was saying, I was like, that’s concussion talk,” McGregor said. “The man [Malignaggi] was badly, badly concussed; look at his face. He was busted up bad. He was looking for an exit. The spars were not good for him. He took a lot of head trauma. Straight after it, we were worried. The sparring partners were actually telling us that when he was dropped back to the home he was stumbling out of the car after the 12-rounder. We thought the worst was happening. He was certainly badly concussed. And then he just got out of there and started running.”