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Conor McGregor Loses Civil Court Appeal Against Rape Case

The former UFC champion was found guilty in November of sexually assaulting a woman in 2018.

Conor McGregor has lost his appeal against a civil jury who found him guilty of raping a woman in a Dublin hotel room. The former UFC champion was ordered to pay £206,000 ($271,000) in damages plus costs to Nikita Hand, who sued McGregor in a civil trial back in November after accusing him of sexually assaulting her in 2018. McGregor lost the case, but appealed on the grounds that his lawyers believed answers he gave to police under interrogation should not have been presented to the jury. He also claimed that the issue paper presented to the jury, which asked “did Conor McGregor assault Nikita Hand?” should have been phrased differently to specify sexual assault, which he denies. McGregor had initially intended to submit fresh evidence to the appeal which would offer an alternative explanation for the bruises suffered by Ms Hand following her encounter with the MMA fighter, but they were withdrawn as the case began. The appeal was dismissed on all grounds by three senior judges at Dublin’s Court of Appeal.