Joey Barton: "I have never given my side of the story, but the truth is that he started the fight and I finished it.
"Frankly, Ousmane is a little pussy. It's him who hit me from behind with his hand.
"When he did that, I hit him back. It happened just like that, bang, bang bang and it was over. But I am no monster. I don't like fighting, but it's human to defend yourself. The problem was I hit him three times. Of course, it was not the best response, but I grew up in the street and when I am attacked, I defend myself and when you fight, there are no rules.
"I wanted to discuss it like men, but he never came to see me and that makes me angry because he told lies in the papers and I was not able to respond.
"There was a late tackle in training and we exchanged a few words. I have an aggressive style and he wasn't happy.
"I told him, 'You are a piece of s**t, don't come looking for me'. He said, 'You are arrogant, you think you're something special'. We kept talking and I said, 'Yeah, you're great', but it was sarcastic because he was not playing well, so he slapped me from behind. He tried to be the bad boy, but it was him who ended up on the floor."
Dabo, who currently plays for MLS side New England Revolution, has previously maintained that it was Barton who attacked him from behind, labelling him a ''coward'' and said he was hit while unconscious from the first punch.