Mixed martial arts star McGregor says sexual abuse allegations are ‘lies’

By Graham Fahy and Conor Humphries

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor denied in a Dublin court on Wednesday that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2018. He said a civil case had been filed against him and that another man was “full of lies.”

Plaintiff Nikita Hand claims McGregor sexually assaulted her on December 9, 2018, and that another man, James Lawrence, did the same, the court heard last week.

McGregor, 36, told the court he had “completely consensual sex” with Hand and that he did not force anyone to do anything against their will. On the sixth day of the trial he took the stand for the first time.

“Your client is full of lies. Everything is a lie,” the former UFC champion said after Hand’s attorney asked her about her testimony that he put her in an arm lock.

He also denied causing any bruises to the complainant. Hand’s lawyer accused McGregor of pressing her watch so hard that there was still a mark on her skin days later.

Hand’s lawyer said last week that when she was referred to a sexual assault treatment unit the day after the alleged assault, a doctor was so concerned that he ordered photographs of her injuries to be taken.

Hand said she and a friend contacted McGregor, whom she knew, after a work Christmas party. She said they were driven by McGregor to a party in a penthouse room of a south Dublin hotel where drugs and alcohol were consumed.

She said McGregor gave her a bedroom in the penthouse and sexually assaulted her. Hand’s attorney, John Gordon, said Hand was on antidepressants and “full of drugs” at the time of the alleged attack.

The judge told the jury, of eight women and four men, that the trial is expected to last two weeks.

(Reporting by Graham Fahy and Conor Humphries, Writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by William Maclean)