A day after he was found liable in a civil rape and sexual assault case, Conor McGregor ranted on social media about the âliesâ his accuser told and his plans to appeal.
On Friday, Nov. 22, a civil jury in Ireland determined that the MMA fighter, 36, was liable of âbrutallyâ raping and battering a woman named Nikita Hand in a civil suit brought forward in 2021. The jury also ordered him to pay damages totaling roughly $257,000 U.S. dollars, according to the Associated Press and The Guardian.
The assault occurred while Hand was intoxicated in December 2018, after she invited McGregor to join her and a friend at a company holiday party in Dublin. She also accused a friend of McGregorâs, James Lawrence, of assaulting her on the night in question, but the jury did not find Lawrence liable, according to The Guardian.
Reacting to the ruling on Saturday, Nov. 23, McGregor celebrated Lawrenceâs outcome and insisted that he is also not liable, repeatedly accusing Hand of lying in a string of posts on X (formerly known as Twitter).
First, McGregor shared an Irish Independent article whose headline included a quote about justice being served, and reiterated his previously announced plans to appeal the outcome.
âJustice was served for James Lawrence, yes! Deplorable what they done,â the athlete wrote. âNikita Hand, vicious liar! APPEAL!â
He then shared another online story about the outcome of the case, this time including a quote from the Minister for Justice of Ireland commending Hand for her âbravery and determinationâ following Fridayâs outcome. âFalsely accused a man of rape and lost,â McGregor wrote alongside the article.
Then, in a long rant, the MMA fighter once again accused Hand of lying and said that he is ânot done yet.â
âTwo men falsely accused,â the Nov. 23 post began. âOne vindicated, the other soon to be! Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration! Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE! LIES! It is absolutely disgraceful what they put you through here. Disgraceful! I look forward to seeing you further vindicate yourself and lambast those responsible in court!â
âWe know what happened that night!â the athlete continued. âEveryone present knows, yet it was ignored. Every single statement of persons present on the night was ignored. And they all disputed Nikitaâs LIES!â
In the same post, McGregor called Handâs accusations âabsolute nonsense,â accused her of changing her âoriginal storyâ and questioned the legitimacy of the court that ruled in her favor. âHow these lies were accepted, I will never know,â he wrote.
âWe are not done yet. Not by a long shot. No chance,â the MMA fighter concluded. âOn we fight! Justice and truth will prevail! Appeal! Appeal! Appeal! As well as other. Congrats James! Onwards and upwards! đ.â
PEOPLE reached out to McGregorâs reps for comment.
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McGregor has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault in addition to the allegations by Hand. In 2022, a woman claimed in a lawsuit that McGregor punched and threatened to drown her while they were celebrating his birthday on a boat in Ibiza. He has denied the accusations, and the case is still ongoing.
McGregor was accused of sexual assault again in 2023 when a woman claimed that she was âviolentlyâ forced into oral sex in a bathroom at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Prosecutors, however, said they would not pursue the case due to âinsufficient evidence,â according to ESPN.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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