had his day in court.
According to reports from the And the UFC superstar testified Wednesday at the High Court in Dublin, Ireland, in connection with a civil lawsuit accusing McGregor of sexually abusing Nikita Hand. Hand claims McGregor and another alleged attacker, James Lawrence, raped her in a penthouse suite at the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford, Dublin, on December 9, 2018.
At Wednesday's hearing, McGregor vehemently denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he and Hand had a consensual sexual encounter after previously chatting online.
(NSFW: Some of the following statements are very graphic.)
“I thought we got along well,” McGregor said of the encounter at a hotel, where he and Hand entered a bathroom. “She was very boisterous, very energetic, very enthusiastic, when I started zipping up my pants after going to the toilet, we started kissing and getting more and more passionate, and it went from there.
“At that moment she performed oral sex on me. We were both dressed and then began to undress. Things moved very quickly.”
Harrison has also denied the allegations.
Before McGregor's testimony, Hand testified that the encounter was far more violent. She claims that she was with McGregor on the night in question and the fighter became increasingly aggressive. Accordingly Hand recalled that she and a woman named Danielle consumed drugs and alcohol from McGregor and that the party was “just silly.”
At one point, Hand felt endangered as she was isolated by McGregor and his security guards.
“I remember a security guard at the window and another security guard closing the door between the two rooms,” Hand said. “I remember panicking. Why are there three men in the room and I'm the only one here?
“I also remember going into the sleeping area and walking through the two rooms and looking around and Conor was in the bathroom and said something inappropriate to me. He told me to screw it.”
Hand claims that McGregor then made physical advances towards her, which she tried to fend off (she denies that any sex between them was consensual, to the report, which McGregor's legal team has suggested is a “fictional story.” On her second day Hand reported the alleged rape.
“Then he held me,” Hand said. “He put his whole body weight on me and I couldn't breathe. I tried my best to get away from him. I tried to wriggle out and do what I could. I remember biting him really hard. I remember his arm wrapping around me and choking me.
“I tried to fight as much as possible. I bit him and he didn't like it, it was like he was right behind me. He choked me and put his arm around me. I just remember him behind me and I think I was sitting on the bed. He put his arm around my neck and choked me three times.”
Several witnesses, including a doctor called to the stand, described that Hand subsequently suffered visible injuries to his jaw, neck, arms, legs, fingers, ankles, buttocks and right breast. Hand's legal team later shared a text exchange in which she told a friend, “My tampon is stuck inside me so I had to remove it and never go out again,” a situation she attributes to the alleged assault.
Hand also testified that she feared for her life during the attack.
“I just froze and I couldn’t move and I couldn’t breathe,” Hand said. “I looked at the bedpost and thought of my daughter. I always thought I would die and never see my daughter again. … I just completely thought I was going to die.”
“He let me go and I remember apologizing to him,” she continued. “I say I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It felt like I had done something wrong. I kept apologizing so he wouldn't hurt me again.
“Then he said that’s how he felt when I was in the octagon and had to tap out three times. I just thought it was so weird to say that. I promised him not to tell anything. I just let him do what he had to do to survive. My mind was completely gone. He was aggressive and pulled on my clothes. I’ll take it out of my clothes.”
Although Hand found it difficult to recall the details of the events following the alleged assault, she clearly recalled later identifying her attacker in conversation with a friend.
“Whatever I said [my friend]“I was obviously very confused,” Hand said. “I told her I was raped and abused and that was the main detail.
“I remember telling her it was Conor McGregor,” she added when questioned further.
On Wednesday, the sixth day of the civil trial, McGregor took the stand and denied the allegations several times.
“I'll tell you where she didn't get them from, which is me,” McGregor said of the bruises on Hand's body. “I would say the sex with me was athletic, physical, long-lasting and took place in a variety of positions.
“I had my hands on her hips, buttocks and the backs of her legs and at no point did I go near her neck. At no point did I bite her, she bit me. At no point did I scratch her, nor did she scratch me.”
McGregor added that to the extent he made sexual advances toward Hand, it was “lies and more lies.” He also didn't remember the alleged victim wearing a tampon.
“There was none,” McGregor said. “If it was like that and she was in her cycle, I wouldn't have had sex with Nikita Hand.”
Hand claims the alleged assault left her with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and damaged her mental health to the point where she was unable to return to work. Dr. Ann Leader, a psychologist, According to an examination, this hand was “scared, tearful and, in my opinion, appeared to be someone who had been traumatized.”
The leader added: “[Hand] “withdrew from life, felt unable to be there for her mother, child and partner” and that Hand's post-traumatic stress disorder manifested itself in the form of “nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks”.
“Your client is full of lies,” McGregor told Hand’s attorney on Wednesday . “Everything is a lie.”
The Dublin sexual harassment allegations first came to light on December 12, 2018. This was reported in January 2021 and McGregor was not prosecuted. However, a personal injury lawsuit was filed that same month and last October, November 5th The woman, later identified as Hand, sought unspecified damages.
The trial was due to begin in the summer but was delayed when McGregor was signed to fight at on June 29th. McGregor pulled out of that fight due to injury and Chandler was later rescheduled for a rematch against Chandler which takes place at this Saturday.
