Conor McGregor’s Civil Sexual Assault Appeal Dismissed

Conor McGregor's appeal in his civil sexual assault case in Dublin was dismissed on Thursday (July 31), BBC reports.

A three-judge panel made the decision to dismiss McGregor's appeal in the judgment, which ordered him to pay his alleged victim, Nikita Hand, €250,000 (roughly $286,000) in damages back in November. Hand attended the hearing on Thursday, while McGregor did not. She accused the controversial MMA star of violently attacking and raping her at a hotel in Dublin in December 2019.

McGregor was first under investigation for the incident in March 2019 after she reported it to the police. Ultimately, prosecutors declined to prosecute him, and she filed a civil lawsuit against him in January 2021. The trial began in November last year and the jury found that McGregor had sexually assaulted Hand. In addition to the damages, he was ordered to pay her legal costs of €1,500,000 (approximately $1,716,000).

During the trial last year, McGregor was cross-examined and admitted to using cocaine. The jury was also told that when he was interviewed by authorities in 2019, he told police "no comment" approximately 100 times.

The judge in the case, Mr. Justice Alexander Owens, also announced that McGregor could face contempt of court for comments he made on social media following the conclusion of the case. He announced he plans to appeal the verdict. On Thursday, the ruling was upheld in a unanimous decision.

"This appeal has retraumatised me over and over again, being forced to relive it, what happened has had a huge impact on me," said Hand when speaking to reporters outside of court. "To every survivor out there, I know how hard it is, but please, don't be silenced. You deserve to be heard, you also deserve justice. Today, I can finally move on and try to heal."

Recently, McGregor was involved in another scandal after Azealia Banks leaked alleged nudes of the MMA star. He didn't directly respond to the leaks, but she continued to mock him across a series of posts on social media. "Who wants Azealia Banks to be the First Lady of Ireland?" she joked. "Y'all would gag."