Conor McGregor found liable for 2018 assault of woman in Dublin: Report

A civil court jury in Ireland found the UFC fighter Conor McGregor liable for sexual assault Friday and awarded the woman who accused him of rape nearly 250,000 euros ($257,000), according to the Associated Press.

A 12-person jury in the High Court in Dublin rendered the verdict after six hours of deliberation, the AP reported. The woman accused McGregor of raping her at a Dublin hotel on Dec. 9, 2018, saying the assault after a night of partying left her bruised and caused her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the AP.

McGregor denied the allegations, testifying he never forced the woman to do anything against her will. McGregor said the two engaged in consensual sex, per the AP.

McGregor did not comment as he left the courtroom. Attorneys for both McGregor and the woman did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Athletic.

The woman gave a brief statement outside the court Friday.

“To all the victims of sexual assault, I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be, speak up, you have a voice, and keep on fighting for justice,” she said, according to BBC. “I know this has impacted not only my life, my daughter’s, my family and friends, tremendously, and it’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. But now that justice has been served, I can now try to move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter.”

In court, the woman testified that McGregor put her in a chokehold and threatened to kill her during the incident, per the AP. Her lawyer said McGregor was angry about a fight he lost in Las Vegas in October 2018.

McGregor said in his testimony that the woman’s story was untrue.

McGregor is not facing criminal charges in the case. Police investigated, but prosecutors declined to bring charges, the AP reported.

McGregor lost that 2018 bout to Khabib Nurmagomedov, who submitted McGregor with a choke. The caustic atmosphere surrounding the fight sparked a melee outside the octagon immediately after it was finished, and eventually led to suspensions for both Nurmagomedov and McGregor. Since then, the 36-year-old McGregor fought three times in the UFC. His scheduled fight against Michael Chandler in June was canceled due to an injury which McGregor then said “required more time to heal than was available to me.”

McGregor, the former two-division champion, hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in the first round of a loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021. He has not won a bout since January 2020.

The UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Photo: David Fitzgerald / Sportsfile via Getty Images)