Once the highest-earning athlete on the planet, Conor McGregor was uncharacteristically subdued as he appeared before his most recent audience this month.
The Irishman rose to prominence as the face of mixed martial arts – or cage fighting – and, with his confidence and trash-talking, was one of the key factors in its ascent to the mainstream.
His boisterous persona brought McGregor vast wealth, close to 50 million followers on Instagram, lucrative forays into the alcohol and hospitality industries – and the moniker of The Notorious.
But the former world champions latest turn in the spotlight has not been in New York Citys Madison Square Garden or the Las Vegas strip, but in the cramped, stifling confines of Court Number 24 of Dublins High Court.
There a judge, 12 jurors, banks of lawyers and hoards of press and curious members of the public have heard allegations that, in December 2018, he brutally raped and battered former hair colourist Nikita Hand, 35, in a Dublin hotel penthouse during a drink and cocaine-fuelled Christmas after party. McGregor has claimed that what took place was entirely consensual.
Ms Hand also accused McGregors friend James Lawrence, 35, of assaulting her on that day, though he says they had consensual sex.
Today, following nine days of evidence, the jury in the civil case found they agreed after McGregor was branded a liar.
Ms Hand won her claim against him for damages, and was awarded nearly 250,000 euros. She lost her lawsuit against Mr Lawrence.
MMA fighter Conor McGregor and partner Dee Devlin outside the High Court in Dublin
Nikita Hand (pictured outside court today) who sued Mr McGregor for rape and another man for assault
The case was brought after Irelands director of public prosecutions decided in 2020 not to bring criminal charges against McGregor and Lawrence due to a lack of evidence and no reasonable prospect of conviction.
This prompted Ms Hand to seek vindication in the civil courts, where she could pursue financial compensation, according to her lawyer.
Now McGregor, a father-of-four who made his name in Americas Ultimate Fighting Championship [UFC] and in the 12 months to May 2021 took home £128million – more than the likes of footballers Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi – faces the task of once again rebuilding his reputation following years of controversies spanning assault, alleged sexual assault and drug-taking.
This months trial did little to help bolster his tarnished image. McGregor told jurors how he took Ms Hand – automatic anonymity for alleged sexual offence victims does not apply in Irelands civil courts – back to his suite where the pair took cocaine and had enthusiastic and athletic sex three times. That this all took place behind the back of his long-suffering partner, Dee Devlin, with whom he has been involved since 2008, rarely received a mention. Indeed, during the trial, McGregor posted images on social media to his millions of followers showing him on kayaking trips with his children and portraying himself as the doting family man.
Hands recollection was markedly different. She said she was beaten black and blue in a violent assault by McGregor, with the fighter placing her in a headlock during the rape and remarking, now you know how I feel in the octagon, referring to the cage used during mixed martial arts fights.
The jury, ultimately, believed Hand.
Despite his chequered history, McGregor remains a role model to millions of budding boxers and mixed martial artists across Britain, Ireland and further afield. And with his myriad business interests, continues to boast astronomical earning potential. Now, however, many will wonder, is this one controversy too far for The Notorious?
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In December 2018, McGregor was at the height of his fame and power. The previous year, he had challenged boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in a crossover bout, sparking the trend for the sort of glitzy spectacles which led to Mike Tysons much-derided return to the ring in a bout against YouTuber Jake Paul earlier this month.
While McGregor lost the fight, it reportedly earned him $100million (£80million) – one of the sports biggest-ever paydays – and led to mainstream appeal with red carpet appearances and a GQ cover interview.
Then, in October 2018, McGregor returned to mixed martial arts and fought the Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov in a bad-tempered headline UFC clash in Las Vegas, prompting 2.4million pay-per-view buys – the most ever for the sport. McGregor was choked into submission in the fourth round – something which Ms Hands barristers would later claim led to him taking it out on their client.
Two months after the fight, on Saturday December 8, McGregor was back in his native Dublin. He ventured out with friends, including Lawrence, who he has known since childhood, to a nightclub called Krystle. Earlier in the day, McGregor had received a message on Instagram from Ms Hand, which included what he described as a slightly provocative picture of her in a dress.
McGregor and his group, which included a number of women, partied at the nightclub until around 6 or 7am, he would later tell Gardai (Irish police) and Dublins High Court, during which time he received a further slew of messages from Ms Hand asking him to come and meet her and her friends.
McGregor and his group had a small bag of cocaine. At around 4.30am, McGregor instructed a member of his entourage to book the penthouse suite at Dublins Beacon Hotel. Counsel for Ms Hand, John Gordon SC, alleged that McGregor had booked the room solely for the purpose of having sex with women, an allegation denied by the fighter, who insisted he liked to sleep, rest and eat following a night out before returning to the home he shared with his partner and young child in nearby Kildaire.
Conor McGregor, his mother Margaret and partner Dee Devlin outside the High Court in Dublin
He did, however, concede that sex might happen if Im lucky, but it wasnt just to have sex. By 7.30am, the girls in McGregors group had gone home, and he messaged Ms Hand.
At around 10am on December 9, McGregor was driven to the hair salon where Ms Hand worked and he collected her and a colleague, Danielle Kealey. The women had been drinking through the night and Ms Hand had taken cocaine while celebrating their work Christmas party.
McGregor then instructed the driver to pick up Mr Lawrence, who initially declined the invitation to join until he was told that McGregor had two girls in the car. There was more cocaine present in the vehicle, and after driving around for a while, the group decided to move on to the hotel where, on arrival, the Irishmans security guard purchased a bottle of Bacardi, a bottle of vodka and some mixers. McGregor described the mood as joyous, happy, excitable and having a good night.
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Court 24 is not a large courtroom. For the duration of the trial, McGregor, who turned up each day wearing expensive-looking suits and dark suede boots, sat at the back, just in front of members of the press, alongside his father, Tony, and an American associate.
Around two metres to his left sat Ms Hand, who was supported by her new partner and a family member. Each day, the public gallery and press benches were full, while members of the public and McGregors entourage, as well as lawyers working on other cases, took the last available standing room. Tickets for McGregors fights are often unattainable; here was a chance to catch the cauliflower-eared fighter in the flesh for free.
McGregor instructed a member of his entourage to book the penthouse suite at Dublins Beacon Hotel
With bodies packed shoulder-to-shoulder, the temperature in court was oppressive. Yet McGregor remained stoic, often sitting ramrod straight and staring ahead, as if priming himself at the bell for a round of action.
At times, Judge Alex Owens risked losing control of the case when he was forced to issue warnings after jurors raised concerns that members of the public were taking photographs in court, of both themselves and the defendant.
Indeed, when McGregor left court after giving evidence he was pursued by a young man who shouted questions which he declined to answer, with the incident streamed live to social media.
During often tearful evidence, Ms Hand told the jury that, when she arrived at the hotel, she intimated to McGregor that she did not want sex as she had a boyfriend and knew Ms Devlin, the fighters partner.
But she said that when they went into the bedroom together, he pinned her down on the bed, choked her three times and left her thinking she was going to die.
I just let him do whatever he needed to do, so I could survive, she said.
Perhaps the most compelling evidence was the images of bruises shown to the jury from when Ms Hand attended hospital the following day. Her barrister John Gordon SC said she had clearly been the victim of a savage attack.
Paramedic Eithne Scully said she had not seen someone so bruised in a long time. A tampon had also been pushed up inside her and had to be pulled out with forceps by hospital staff.
Ms Hand lost her lawsuit against McGregors friend, James Lawrence, who she also accused of assaulting her in a Dublin hotel in 2018
After the alleged rape, Ms Hand said she told Mr Lawrence that everyone turned a blind eye to what Conor does to women, to which she said Mr Lawrence replied: I cant believe I was in this room when that was happening to you.
In his evidence, Mr Lawrence said this had never taken place and described how he had in fact had sex with Ms Hand on two occasions in the hours after she was allegedly raped by McGregor.
Ms Hand said she had no recollection of this, but CCTV footage showed her attempting to kiss Mr Lawrence in the hotel lift. In evidence, Ms Kealey, who was not called as a witness for Ms Hand, said she was surprised when her friend alleged that she had been raped by McGregor.
Mr Lawrence also denied that he was being made a patsy or fall guy for McGregor, who had paid his legal bills. I wouldnt stand up for my own brother or father that did anything to a woman like that, Lawrence told the jury, saying he came from a family of women.
What man would put themselves up for the rape of a woman?
Over two days in the witness box, McGregor, after an early burst of anger directed at Ms Hand, often appeared a shadow of the boorish showman who has delighted and disgusted sports fans in equal measure.
In October, he had posted pictures online from Marbella, where he is believed to have been living with his family on a 120ft triple-deck sunseeker yacht. In contrast, the only comfort extended to him in court was a plastic cup of water. His bright red flask, emblazoned with the name of one of his fitness companies, was left beneath his chair while he gave evidence.
Conor McGregor prepares to fight Dustin Poirier in a UFC 264 lightweight mixed martial arts bout July 10, 2021, in Las Vegas
The court heard that, after the Gardai became involved with Ms Hand, McGregor was interviewed under caution at a police station in January 2019 where, having issued a prepared statement, he replied no comment to more than 150 questions.
He said this had been on the advice of his legal team: I would have loved to go to the top of a mountain and shout it from the hilltops but with the seriousness of the allegations… I took their advice.
He then read out his statement to the court, which described in graphic detail the positions in which he and Ms Hand allegedly had sex and how she was enjoying it.
My story has never changed, he told the court. Never waned, six or seven years after the event. Your clients story has changed multiple times.
McGregor denied that Ms Hand was wearing a tampon and said, if she was, we would not have had sex.
We can safely ascertain from every shred of unbiased evidence, there was no sense of stress or fear, anything other than elation, joy, excitement and a good night was had – thats as clear as day from start to finish, he claimed.
Shortly after the incident, rumours began to spread on social media about a sports star being involved in an incident. When McGregors name began being linked to an alleged assault in a hotel, he said he was completely shocked and frightened beyond belief.
McGregor told jurors that his experience being questioned under caution after being held in a police cell was alien to me. It was the first time anything like that had happened.
It is true that the fighter was not accustomed to being interrogated over an offence as serious as rape, but it was and would be far from the only time he has found himself in trouble with the law.
In 2019, in an incident which made waves around the world, McGregor punched a punter in Dublins Marble Arch pub when he refused a shot of his whiskey, Proper No. Twelve. McGregor also owns his own brand of Irish stout.
He was forced to apologise and pay a €1,000 fine, but arguably had the last laugh when he purchased the pub for up to £1.8million two years later.
Last year, a woman who alleged she had her arm broken during an assault on McGregors yacht in Spain dropped a civil case against him in Ireland.
Nikita Ni Laimhin (centre) is pictured outside the High Court in Dublin earlier this month
Her legal representative declined to comment last night, citing confidential reasons.
In November, he was also accused of fomenting unrest in Dublin when he made comments about his country being at war after there had been riots in the city centre fuelled by concerns over immigration.
McGregors family have also been making headlines for the wrong reasons. His older sister, Aiofe, is reportedly in a relationship with Graham The Wig Whelan, known as an associate of the notorious Kinahan cartel, which is accused of peddling drugs across the globe. McGregor and Whelan were pictured partying together last year.
After concluding their evidence in the witness box last week, McGregor and Lawrence returned to his bar, The Black Forge Inn, near where he grew up, and enjoyed drinks with his entourage.
The bar is a shrine to his achievements in the ring, with videos playing on a loop of some of his greatest moments while fans can request photographs with replicas of his championship belts. Indeed, to many in fighting circles in Dublin, McGregor will continue to do no wrong.
Manager Liam Flynn showed off the Rolex watch McGregor purchased for him in 2022. The fighter purchased the pub from Flynn the previous year.
Mr McGregor is being accompanied by his family, including his partner, parents, sister and brother-in-law
Theres a lot of people around who are interested in Conor for his money, he said. He cant go anywhere. Hes a good kid and hes always looked after the area. His comments were backed by Phil Sutcliffe, a former Olympian boxer and McGregors former coach at the local boxing club.
Hes a great lad and hes done a lot for the community. I never believed the allegations, he said.
But for many in Dublin, McGregors reputation is now tainted beyond repair and the publicity he brings to Ireland is becoming a source of shame. Following his latest appearance before the courts, The Notorious will, in some quarters, never be able to shake off his poisoned notoriety.
As his barrister Remy Farrell SC was forced to acknowledge to the jury during his closing speech pleading for them to find in McGregors favour: It may be the case some, a lot, most of you, have negative views about Mr McGregor. Some of you may even loathe him, theres no point pretending it may be otherwise.
The taxi driver to The Black Forge Inn puts it more bluntly. McGregors an idiot, he says. People dont like him around here anymore because of what he says and what he does. Hes got a big mouth. Give him a dig from me if you see him.
Asked to explain its decision not to prosecute McGregor in 2020, a spokesman for Irelands DPP said it does not comment on individual cases.