MMA fighter Conor McGregor has issued an apology after he was caught on camera uttering the word "faggot".

The 29-year-old made the comment after witnessing his sparring partner Artem Lobov lose to Andre Fili in a bout in Poland last month.

"I'm human, I slip up, I say stupid things every damn day," McGregor told Reuters. "All I can [do] is hold my hand up and apologise if anyone was offended.

"The word used to describe that opponent was incorrect and very offensive and I can apologise for that."

In another interview with The Late Late Show, he explained: "I witnessed [Lobov] lose a fight in a potential career-defining or a career-ending fight in a manner where the opponent was stalling and running away, and I was upset.

"I was whispering in his ear, and I was speaking on that, and I said what I said. I meant no disrespect to nobody, to anybody in the LGBT community."

McGregor is on record as a supporter of LGBT rights, having previously campaigned to legalise gay marriage in Ireland.