London
AP
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A woman who alleged mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor “brutally raped and assaulted” her in a Dublin hotel penthouse was awarded nearly 250,000 euros ($257,000) by a civil court jury in Ireland on Friday.

Nikita Hand said the attack on December 9, 2018 after a night of partying left her badly bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

McGregor testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said she made up the allegations after the two had consensual sex. His lawyer had called Hand a gold digger.

The fighter, once the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship but now past his prime, shook his head as the jury of eight women and four men found him liable for assault after deliberating for about six hours at the High Court in Dublin.

He was harassed by cameras as he left court but made no comment. He later said on social platform X that he would appeal the verdict and the “modest reward.”

Hand’s voice broke and her hands shook as she read a statement outside the courthouse saying she would never forget what happened to her but could now move on with her life. She thanked her family, partner, friends, jurors, the judge and all the supporters who had contacted her online, but especially her daughter.

“She has given me so much strength and courage during this nightmare over the past six years to continue pursuing justice,” she said. “I want to show (her) and all the other girls and boys that if something happens to you, you can stand up for yourself, no matter who the person is, and that justice will be done.”

The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Hand has done. Under Irish law, she did not have the anonymity that would have been granted to her in criminal proceedings and was publicly named during the trial.

Her lawyer told jurors that McGregor was angry about a fight he lost in Las Vegas two months earlier and took it out on his client.

“He’s not a man, he’s a coward,” defense attorney John Gordon said in his closing speech. “A devious coward and you should treat him like he is.”

Gordon said his client never pretended to be a saint and just wanted to have fun when she messaged McGregor via Instagram after attending a Christmas party. He said Hand knew McGregor socially and that they had grown up in the same area.

She said he picked her and a friend up in a car and shared cocaine with them, which McGregor admitted in court, on the way to the Beacon Hotel.

Hand said she told McGregor she didn’t want to have sex with him and that she was menstruating. She said she told him “no” when he started kissing her, but he ended up pinning her down on a bed and she couldn’t move.

McGregor put her in a chokehold and later told her, “now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped three times,” referring to a UFC match in which he had to admit defeat, she said.

Hand had to take several breaks in emotional testimony over three days. She said McGregor threatened to kill her during the encounter and she feared she would never see her young daughter again.

Finally he let her go.

“I remember saying I was sorry because I felt like I had done something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again,” testified them.

She said she then let him do what he wanted and he had sex with her.

A paramedic who examined Hand the next day testified that she had never seen anyone with such a severe bruise. A doctor told jurors that Hand had multiple injuries.

Hand said the trauma of the attack left her unable to work as a hairdresser, falling behind on her mortgage and having to leave her home.

Police investigated the woman’s complaint, but prosecutors declined to file charges, saying there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely.

McGregor said in his post on

He testified that the two had athletic and vigorous sex, but that it was not rough. He said, “She never said ‘no’ and never stopped” and testified that everything she said was a lie.

“It’s a complete lie among many lies,” he said when asked about the chokehold accusation. “How anyone could believe that I, as a proud person, would highlight my shortcomings.”

McGregor’s lawyer told jurors to put aside their animosity toward the fighter.

“You may actively dislike him, some of you may even dislike him – there is no point in pretending the situation could be different,” said attorney Remy Farrell. “I’m not asking you to invite him to Sunday brunch.”

The defense said the woman never told investigators that McGregor had threatened her life. They also showed surveillance video in court, which they say showed the woman kissing McGregor’s arm and hugging him after they left the hotel room. Farrell said she looked “happy, happy, happy.”

McGregor said he was “beyond petrified” when he was first questioned by police and read them a prepared statement. On the advice of his lawyer, he refused to answer more than a hundred follow-up questions.

The jury convicted Hand in a case she brought against one of McGregor’s friends, James Lawrence, whom she accused of having sex with her without consent at the hotel.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the allegation for which the jury found Conor McGregor liable. The jury found McGregor liable for assault.