Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has narrowly avoided a jail sentence for ‘appalling’ driving that almost caused a collision.

McGregor, 36, of The Paddocks, Straffan in Co Kildare, reportedly asked ‘are you taking the p**s’ after a garda who drove over 100 miles per hour to catch him asked him to step out of his Bentley Continental GT convertible on the N4/M50 interchange in Palmerstown, west Dublin on March 22 2022.

He was charged with several driving offences relating to the incident.

The UFC star has appeared in court several times for dangerous and careless driving offences.

At Blanchardstown District Court on Wednesday, Judge David McHugh disqualified McGregor from driving for two years, handed him a five-month suspended sentence and fined him 5,000 euros for dangerous driving.

Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor was arrested for dangerous driving in his £150,000 Bentley Convertible GT on a Dublin motorway – he is pictured here in a post on his Instagram

Conor McGregor was filmed by fans, who were driving alongside the 33-year-old on the motorway, being chased by a police car  just moments before he was pulled over and arrested

He also fined him a further 1,000 euros for one count of careless driving on the M50 on the same day.

‘This is an appalling series of breaches of the road traffic rules and an appalling episode of dangerous driving’, he said.

In 2018, McGregor was disqualified from driving for six months after being caught travelling at around one-and-a-half times the speed limit near Dublin.

The court heard at the time about a dozen previous traffic convictions, which included breaking a red light, driving while using a mobile phone, entering a bus lane, driving unaccompanied with only a provisional licence and parking on double yellow lines.

McGregor acknowledged outside the courtroom then that he had to slow down and ‘drive safer’ in future.

Former featherweight and lightweight champion McGregor was officially ruled out of the UFC 303 event last month, having been slated to fight Michael Chandler in Las Vegas, due to an unspecified injury.

He posted online in a statement: ‘Very tough to be ruled out of my scheduled return bout.

‘The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team.

‘My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there!

Conor McGregor, seen attending a presentation for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in Marbella on July 18, has now been banned from the roads for two years

UFC superstar Conor McGregor, pictured here posing with his championship belts at a UFC 229 press conference in Las Vegas in October 2018, has previously promised to ‘drive safer’

McGregor is pictured leaving Blanchardstown District Court in Dublin in November 2022 after being charged with driving offences

‘Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back!’

McGregor later posted photographs of his injury, a broken toe, saying: ‘A slight lapse in concentration and a nuisance of an injury was picked up.’

He has also this month praised US presidential contender Donald Trump for his response to an assassination attempt, writing on X: ‘A 78 year old multiple billionaire he should be on a yacht on the med touring golf courses.

‘But he is not He is in Pennsylvania spitting out bullets! Running for the love of his country! God speed Donald! God bless the United States.’