UFC star and former double-champ Conor McGregor is, as promised, appealing the verdict against him in a civil sexual assault case in his native Ireland.
Per a report by the BBC, McGregor, through his lawyers, lodged an appeal in the Irish courts on Friday.
The November 2024 verdict in a case that saw Nikita Hand allege McGregor and another man had sexually assaulted her resulted in a €248,000 fine for the fighter. He was also ordered to pay Hand’s legal fees.
The jury found that McGregor associate James Lawrence, 35, was not liable for sexually assaulting Hand. That allegation was in reference to an encounter that was alleged to have taken place on the very same day she accused McGregor of the same act, said to have transpired at The Beacon Hotel in Dublin, Ireland roughly six years ago.
McGregor immediately vowed to appeal the finding of the civil case, which is different from being found criminally guilty. In criminal cases, a verdict must be beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil cases simply look at the balance of probabilities in a claim, meaning it needs to be more than 50% likely of being true.
The complainant in the case, Hand, displayed bruises and scratches and claimed to have been put in a chokehold by the fighter.
The outcome of the case based on the 2018 allegation saw McGregor dropped by Proper 12, the Whiskey he launched to great fanfare years ago (and later sold). Another civil case by a different, unnamed woman claims the UFC star sexually assaulted her at a Miami Heat playoff game in 2023.
Police had previously investigated the Miami allegation, and a statement provided to Cageside Press by the fighter’s PR reps, attributed to Barbara Llanes – Gelber, Schachter & Greenberg, Counsel for Conor McGregor, stated that “After a thorough investigation at the time, the State’s Attorney concluded that there was no case to pursue. Almost two years and at least three lawyers later the plaintiff has a new false story. We are confident that this case too will be dismissed.”
In the aftermath of the Hand ruling, McGregor moved to publish CCTV footage he claimed was exonerating. Hand’s attorney’s moved to block the footage from being shown to the public.
