Michael David Muir, 52, and the victim had "bad blood" between them when the incident occurred at the Savoia Hotel on December 19, 2017.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Moore told the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Thursday the victim attended the pub at 6.15pm, sat at the bar and ordered a coffee.

He said Muir arrived a short time later and sat at the other end of the bar and the victim asked Muir if he had hit any women in the area.

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Muir approached the victim and punched him in the face. He punched him a second time and a staff member stepped in to separate the pair.

Mr Moore said the victim telephoned triple-0 and attended a medical clinic at 10pm. He suffered bruising, a cut lip and a cut inside his cheek consistent of him biting the inside of his mouth.

The victim lost two teeth which he said had added stress to his other teeth and he would need further teeth removed, costing him money.

The man said in a victim impact statement, dated January 2020 and read to the court, he held fears of a retribution and he did not feel safe since the incident.

Muir's defence counsel said Muir disagreed with the victim's indication he would experience dental issues later in life because there was no medical evidence.

Muir said he thought the victim impact statement contained a sense of the "bad blood" between him and the victim.

"This happened in 2017 and there has been no contact between these to men so the likelihood of anything happening should be extremely low," Muir's defence counsel said.

Magistrate Ron Saines said he was not prepared to disregard the victim impact statement. He said the victim had expressed fear three years since the incident, and the statement was the victim's belief and he would take that into account.

A psychology report was tendered to the court and Muir had already engaged with a counsellor for depression-related issues, the court was told.

Mr Saines said the psychology report made references to alcohol abuse.

The court was told Muir, who lives at Mount Franklin, was unemployed but was hoping to find a job.

His defence counsel submitted a fine would be appropriate due to his isolated address, but the magistrate said a fine did not address drug and alcohol abuse issues.

Muir was sentenced to a 15-month community corrections order which includes 150 hours of unpaid community work.

He pleaded guilty to one count of common law assault after the prosecution withdrew five charges. Muir attended court for the hearing.

At one stage, the matter had proceeded to the County Court but it came back to the Magistrates' Court for a contested mention before Muir received a sentence indication that, if he pleaded guilty, he would not be sentenced to prison.

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