Conor McGregor has been arrested on suspicion of attempted sexual assault and indecent exposure in Corsica, according to French media reports.

A spokesman for the retired mixed martial arts star told the AFP news agency that the Irishman “vigorously denies any accusation of bad behaviour”.

The 32-year-old former featherweight and lightweight champion was taken into custody on Thursday and released on Saturday, the French news site 20 Minutes reported.

Emmanuelle Ramon, McGregor’s lawyer, has said his client was “released before the legal end of police custody and without any judicial review”.

In a statement sent to AFP, the prosecutor’s office said: “Following a complaint filed on 10 September denouncing acts that could be described as attempted sexual assault and sexual exhibition, Mr Conor Anthony Mac Gregor (sic) was the subject of a hearing by the gendarmerie services.”

The statement gave no details of the former fighter’s alleged offences.

McGregor, who retired from mixed martial arts for the third time in four years in June, was fined €1,000 (£925) last year after he was convicted of punching a man in a Dublin pub.

He was earlier charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after police said he attacked a charter bus in New York carrying UFC fighters in April 2018.

McGregor pleaded guilty to a reduced disorderly conduct charge in that case.

-Agencies