Conor McGregor has lost a civil lawsuit against a woman named Nikita Hand, a.k.a Nikita Ni Laimhin, in Ireland. She accused him of sexual assault, which McGregor denied. A jury at Dublin’s High Court ruled in her favor in November 2024 and ordered McGregor to pay Hand more than €250,000 in damages.
Since McGregor is a huge name in the MMA world, fans were shocked to learn about the allegations he faced. Learn more about Hand and her civil lawsuit against McGregor below.
Hand is 35 years old and a mom to one daughter, she revealed while speaking to the press after the jury reached its verdict on November 22, 2024.
People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me.
As much as I…
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 25, 2024
“I would like to start off by saying I’m overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody,” Hand said, according to The U.S. Sun. “Lastly I want to thank my daughter Freya, who I’m most grateful for. She has given me so much strength and courage over the last six years throughout this nightmare, to keep on pushing forward for justice. … I want to show Freya and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is and justice will be served.”
Hand claimed that McGregor, 36, “brutally raped and battered” her in 2018 at a Dublin hotel penthouse, per Newsweek.
McGregor denied raping Hand and claimed that they had consensual sex during the 2018 incident in question. Hand claimed that she told McGregor “no” while he kissed her and alleged that the mixed martial arts fighter pinned her to the bed and placed her in a chokehold, according to multiple outlets. As for McGregor, he claimed they had “enthusiastic and athletic” sex and that she “never said ‘no’ or stopped.” He went on to call Hand’s testimony a lie.
Nevertheless, the jury at the High Court found him liable of sexually assaulting Hand in 2018. McGregor announced that his legal team plans to appeal the jury’s decision.
