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A woman who claimed former UFC champion Conor McGregor "brutally raped and battered" her was awarded nearly $257,000 by the High Court in Dublin on Friday (November 22), the Associated Press reports.
The jury found McGregor liable for sexual assault, but not rape, in relation to the incident that took place in the penthouse of a Dublin hotel on December 9, 2018, which Nikita Hand claimed left her heavily bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Hand read a statement outside the courthouse, claiming she could never forget what happened during the incident but wanted to be able to move on with her life, specifically crediting her daughter.
“She has given me so much strength and courage over the last six years throughout this nightmare to keep on pushing forward for justice,” the woman said via the Associated Press. “I want to show (her) 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.”
Attorney John Gordon, who represented the woman, told jurors that McGregor was angry about his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in Las Vegas two months prior and took it out on his client.
“He’s not a man, he’s a coward,” Gordon said in his closing speech via the AP. “A devious coward and you should treat him for what he is.”
McGregor reportedly put a chokehold on the victim several times and told her “now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped out three times," referring to his UFC career.
“He let me go and I remember saying I was sorry, as I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again,” she said via the AP.
The woman said she then allowed McGregor to do whatever he wanted out of fear for her life and he had sex with her. The woman's complaint led to a police investigation, however, prosecutors declined to bring charges, claiming there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely.
McGregor, who shares four children with fiancée Dee Devlin, denied the allegations, which he claimed the victim fabricated after they had consensual sex.