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Woman Files Lawsuit Accusing UFC Fighter Conor McGregor Of Rape
A spokesperson for the UFC fighter has since denied the claims in the suit filed in Ireland in regard to the alleged 2018 attack.
Professional mixed martial artist Conor McGregor is facing a lawsuit in his native Ireland related to allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman there over two years ago.
The unnamed woman filed the suit on Monday naming McGregor, 32, and another man in the alleged attack, according to court documents obtained by The New York Times. The woman reportedly claimed that she and McGregor knew each other from having grown up in the same town and had exchanged “flirtatious” messages via social media before meeting up on December 9, 2018.
According to the suit, McGregor had a car sent to pick up the woman and an unnamed friend, and when they got in the car a friend of McGregor’s was inside. The woman reportedly wrote that she took some of the cocaine that was “produced” on the way there, and they all traveled to a hotel in Dublin together.
The alleged assault occurred once the woman got to McGregor’s penthouse suite, she reportedly said. McGregor “beckoned” her from the bedroom, she claimed, and asked her to engage in a sexual act. She said no, but McGregor then began kissing her and removing her clothes, she alleges, according to The Times. The woman claims that she tried to fend him off, but he held her around the neck and lifted her off of the ground until she stopped fighting. McGregor then raped her and made her lie down with him, she alleged.
The woman claimed that she was also sexually assaulted the following day by McGregor’s friend, The Times reported. In the suit, she explained that when she woke up, it was already evening and McGregor’s friend gave her a drink. The next thing she remembered was being in a taxi heading home, she said. The police later told her that McGregor’s friend said that she’d had sex with him, which she did not recall consenting to, according to the suit.
Once the woman got back home, her mother called her an ambulance and she was treated for sexual assault at a hospital, the Times reported she said. Doctors allegedly found bruising on her body. A month later, she reported the rape to the police, who ultimately opted not to press charges.
The suit seeks between $1.79 million and $2.13 million to cover the woman’s hospital bills, lost wages, and the cost of selling her home and buying a new one, court documents obtained by the Times state. In her suit, she alleges that the mental and emotional aftermath of the assault left her unable to work since May 2019.
In a statement issued to the Times and PEOPLE, a spokesperson for McGregor denied the claims and said that McGregor is “confident that justice will prevail.”
“After an exhaustive investigation conducted by the Gardai [police in Ireland] which, in addition to interviews of the plaintiff, included: interviewing numerous sources, obtaining witnesses' statements, examining closed-circuit footage and the cooperation of Conor McGregor, these allegations were categorically rejected,” that statement reads. “The plaintiff knows the facts contradict the assertions in this lawsuit. Mr. McGregor will dispute any claims and is confident that justice will prevail.”
In 2019, authorities in Ireland opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations concerning McGregor, the Times previously reported. The news broke on the heels of the fighter’s announcement that he will be retiring from mixed martial arts. His spokesperson issued a statement to the Times then stating that his retirement and news of the sexual assault investigation were unrelated.
McGregor ultimately returned to the octagon in January 2020 for a fight with Donald Cerrone but announced another retirement six months later. He is scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier on Saturday.
