Ireland's UFC star Conor McGregor has endorsed lockdown in his country following the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. The professional MMA fighter and boxer took to his social media account and in a video message urged his countrymen to stay indoors in order to fight against the COVID-19 virus. The 31-year-old citied his fighting spirit to keep the virus at bay. McGregor's video has now gone viral and has been viewed over million times. Conor McGregor Throws Down Vicious Punches During Quarantine Workout, Henry Cejudo Tells Him to Focus on Grappling Instead.

"Hello everyone, hello Ireland. I would like to address my nation. While we are all currently debating a full lockdown, I feel that we must. Any time spent debating this is needless time from the clock. I know a good, tough fight when I see one, and we have one on our hands now," McGregor said at the beginning of the video.

"I want to call upon my people - the great people of Ireland. This fight needs us all. We're all in the red corner together, awaiting the bell. So let's gather together and ring the bell ourselves, including the people of the rest of the world. True lockdown must begin, and it must begin now - a lockdown together, a lockdown united. We must close our airports, we must close all non-essential business, we must cut all non-essential travel," he added.  Charles Oliveira Calls Out Conor McGregor After UFC Fight Night 170 Win, Says ‘I Would Fight Him in Any Weight’.

"I know that when the true seriousness of this is understood, as it is becoming now, our great nation will oblige and impeccably do so. It is time for total lockdown and we are ready. Powers that be, I am calling to you all, the fate of our great Ireland depends on it. This is my proposal and I pray that we can make this happen.

"We need to take the same measures as some of the more affected countries but we must do it in quicker time. We have the advantage here in that we can see this coming.

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"We can see this coming. But if we do not act on our advantage, then we cannot expect different results. We are not adhering to social distancing, at least not to the extent require to halt exponential growth. A lockdown would facilitate this. It will reduce transmissions, it will take the pressure off of our frontline staff and it will allow us to identify all of our cases," the former UFC two-division champion said.

He signed off the message with: "These measures are stringent but necessary and have worked in China and Hong Kong. Ireland, we have got this. Not only do we have the formula, we have it ahead of time! Let's go, Ireland! Let's go, rest of the world! Lock down united! Together we stand! God bless us all!"

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2020 06:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).