THE man punched by Conor McGregor in a 6am nightclub brawl is Wayne Lineker’s close pal who has “the most special heart”.
Joe Gomez was whacked twice by the ex-UFC fighter, 36, in the legendary Pacha nightclub “for absolutely no reason” on Tuesday morning.
His identity was revealed in a now-deleted Instagram post by club mogul Wayne, 63, who said he was “disappointed” with McGregor for attacking his employee.
MMA legend Conor had been partying in Lineker’s Ocean Beach club earlier in the night before moving to the VIP section of Pacha.
Wayne’s post, to his one million followers, said: “Thought about this post a lot.
“This is my very close friend who has worked at Ocean for eight years, he has the most special heart and in all of the years that I’ve known him he has never raised his voice once.
“He took two punches from Conor McGregor in Pacha for absolutely no reason.
“Let me introduce you to Joe Gooomez (sic). He took the punches like a champion.
“I’ve since deleted my post of Conor at Ocean on Sunday. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.
“We at Ocean Beach Ibiza will always put our family first #wearefamily.”
One of Joe’s pals, who was in the club during the bust-up, told The Sun: “He has worked with Wayne for a long time and Wayne is very loyal to his staff.
“Conor had a great deal at Ocean – he got a table and drinks for free. Now that benefit may well be taken away.
“If you were around Conor in the club and you took your phone out, you’d be told to put it away.
“I don’t know how Joe got that close to begin with.
“Joe’s not said anything about pressing charges or making a formal complaint to the police.
“He had some time off booked after the incident anyway, but Wayne has been very good at handling it.
“Joe’s fine and there was no injury from the punches. It was obviously a shock, and he feels he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Earlier in the evening, the combat sports legend was pictured with glamour model Katie Price at Lineker’s club.
Taking to Instagram, he was seen puffing on a cigar while wearing red shorts, a sun hat and sunglasses while playing up to the crowd.
Price, 47, reshared the story to her own Instagram page with the caption: “You legend,” after McGregor tagged her in his own story and said: “Forever”.
Spurs ace Kevin Danso also shared a snap of himself with the MMA fighter.
The Sun’s exclusive footage first showed how McGregor was talking to a man on the exclusive club’s dancefloor before putting his arm around his shoulders from a platform above.
After the pair chat for less than ten seconds, McGregor strikes the man, who appears to be Mr Gomez, next to his pal with his left hand.
The first punch failed to cleanly connect, but less than a second later, the “Notorious” lands a clean left hook as the startled party-goer falls to the floor.
McGregor, wearing a black and white shirt and tight white trousers, is then shielded from other club-goers by his own friends, who stormed the booth he was standing in.
Revellers in the nightclub revealed that after the bizarre scrap, the man punched by McGregor was thrown out, while the Irish fighter kept drinking.
One told The Sun: “Clearly something’s been said to annoy him and he’s reacted very badly.
“The guy seemed to fall to the floor, and his mates came to pick him up and get him away.
“There [didn’t appear to be any] consequences for Conor, but the guy he punched was taken away and I didn’t see him again.”
After the bizarre scrap, the man punched by McGregor was thrown out[/caption]
The brawl happened just before 6am[/caption]
The short but violent scrap unfolded at 5:53am after McGregor, who hasn’t fought since 2021, had spent the night partying with his huge entourage.
Another club-goer said: “He had his arm around someone who looked like his mate.
“Someone came up to them and when Conor hit him, about five people fell to the floor as the guy stumbled back.
“It was a bit like bowling pins, but the guy was really shaken by the hits.
“About a minute later, the bouncers came and got him on the back and took him out of the club, because he had annoyed Conor.
“It was right before close anyway. There was no messing around, they just removed him.
“Conor left through the garden a bit later, he didn’t look very happy that they got into a fight.”
Wayne Lineker and McGregor’s representative were asked to comment.
