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Exclusive: Conor McGregor camp quash rumours he was knocked out sparring for Floyd Mayweather fight
Conor McGregor's management team have denied any truth in the rumour that he was knocked out in a sparring session.
The rumours originated from a video interview with former two-weight world champion Jessie Vargas, who allegedly claimed McGregor was knocked out as he trained ahead of his fight against Floyd Mayweather on August 26.
It was mis-reported on Monday that Vargas had said McGregor was knocked out by British MMA fighter Bradley Wheeler.
In the video Vargas claimed that "the boxing world is small, man... He got knocked out in sparring."
In fact, Vargas was referring to lightweight boxer Brandon Rios, but McGregor's management have moved to clarify that neither Rios nor Wheeler had sparred with McGregor.
The rumour was quashed on Tuesday when McGregor's management told Telegraph Sport that "the guy mentioned by Jessie Vargas is Brandon Rios, not Brad Wheeler. Neither have sparred with Conor."
Brandon Rios also confirmed that he had never sparred with McGregor, insisting that he did not know who he was, nor had he ever met the mixed martial artist. "The world's gone crazy," said Rios on Monday in an interview with ES News.
"My phone's been blowing up. I've been getting texts messages and calls about this. I've never met McGregor, and I don't know who he is."
McGregor is crossing over into boxing for a fight with Mayweather, who is 49-0 in an unbeaten career spanning 21 years.
The contest between Mayweather and McGregor, both currently training in Las Vegas, looks likely to become the biggest-grossing fight in history, outstripping Mayweather's lopsided victory over the Filipino boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao.
That bout in 2015 set a new benchmark for pay per view earnings and arena gate, eventually bringing in a total of $700million (£537m).
Mayweather and McGregor completed a whistlestop promotional tour last week, trading insults from Los Angeles to London, as the Irishman with the 0-0 boxing record attempts to upset the odds in Vegas next month.