An Irish civil jury ruled Friday that the mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel penthouse after a night of intense partying.
The Dublin jury awarded the woman nearly $257,000 for her lawsuit claiming McGregor. “brutally raped and beaten” on December 9, 2018, leaving her severely bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
McGregor said he never forced her to do anything and that the woman fabricated her allegations after the two had consensual sex.
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The woman’s lawyer said she never claimed to be a saint and went looking for a good time, which ended up turning into a nightmare.
Lawyer John Gordon said McGregor was angry about a fight he lost in Las Vegas two months earlier and lashed out at his client.
“He’s not a man, he’s a coward,” Gordon told jurors. “He’s a sneaky coward and you should treat him for what he is.”
The woman had to pause several times in her emotional testimony as she said McGregor threatened to kill her during the encounter.
McGregor put her in a choke hold several times and later told her, “Now you know how I felt in the octagon where I triple-tapped,” referring to an Ultimate Fighting Championship when he had to admit defeat, she said.
She was afraid of dying and never seeing her daughter again.
“He let me go and I remember saying I was sorry because I felt I had done something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so they wouldn’t make me no more harm,” she said.
She said she then let him do whatever he wanted and he had sex with her.
Police investigated the woman’s complaint, but prosecutors declined to press charges, saying there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely.
McGregor said the two men had sex that was athletic and vigorous, but not rough. He said “she never said ‘no’ or stopped” and testified that everything she said was a lie.
“It’s a lie in its own right among many lies,” he said when asked about the strangulation allegation. “How could anyone believe that I, as a proud person, would point out my flaws.”
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McGregor’s lawyer told jurors they needed to put aside their animosity toward the fighter.
“You may have an active dislike of him, some of you may even hate him – there is no point in pretending that the situation could be different,” said lawyer Remy Farrell. “I’m not asking you to invite him to Sunday brunch.”
The defense said the woman never told investigators that McGregor threatened her life. They also showed the court surveillance video that they said appeared to show the woman kissing McGregor’s arm and hugging him after leaving the hotel room. Farrell said she looked “happy, happy, happy.”
McGregor said that during his first questioning by police, he read them a prepared statement. On the advice of his lawyer, he refused to respond to more than 100 reminders.
McGregor has previously faced sexual assault allegations in the United States. In October 2023, the Miami State Attorney’s Office said would not bring criminal charges against McGregor after a woman accused him of trying to force her to perform oral sex on him after an NBA Finals game between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets.
He has also previously faced criminal charges in the United States for alleged assault And criminal mischief.