Along with damages he’s been ordered to pay after a verdict in a sexual assault case, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] now will have to cover his victim’s legal costs, as well.
McGregor, a former UFC two-division champion who hasn’t fought in three-and-a-half years, was found liable for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand during a 2018 incident. A jury in Dublin returned a verdict that included damages amounting to approximately $250,000. A co-defendant with McGregor, James Lawrence, was not found liable for the same allegations.
On Thursday, a judge ruled McGregor must pay Hand’s legal fees from pursuit of her claim against him, but she must pay her own fees for the portion of the trial related to Lawrence, according to RTE in Ireland. Lawrence, however, will not be permitted to pursue recovery legal fees for his defense, even though he was not found liable.
The jury said Lawrence did not assault Hand. During the trial, Hand’s attorney said McGregor and Lawrence made a combined effort to have Lawrence take the fall, rather than McGregor.
According to RTE, McGregor also could run afoul of the Irish legal system for online posts he made in the wake of the decision. He said he plans to appeal and criticized the jurors and “kangaroo court,” which Hand’s attorneys said could factor into McGregor’s penalties at some point.
The UFC has not made public comment in the wake of the trial.
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Hand was seeking damages – general, special, aggravated, and punitive – for the incident and her inability to work due to mental health reasons, according to court documents. In the statement of claim reported by The New York Times in 2021, Hand sought damages of $1.79-$2.13 million for the same.
McGregor and his legal team were in the courtroom for the verdict, as was McGregor’s wife, Dee Devlin, with whom he shares four children, the first of which was born in late 2017. McGregor admitted under oath during the trial that he had sex with Hand during the incident in question in late 2018, but he said it was consensual.
The trial wrapped up at the end of its second week. McGregor and Lawrence faced sexual assault accusations in a lawsuit filed by Hand, who alleged they had sex with her without her consent while she was intoxicated in December 2018 at a hotel after a long night of partying. Criminal charges weren’t fully pursued, but Hand filed a civil suit in 2021.
McGregor has not fought since a July 2021 injury TKO loss to Dustin Poirier. It’s been more than eight years since he most recently held a UFC title, which was stripped from him for failure to defend. Although he was tapped to coach on “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite Michael Chandler and fight afterward, that fight has not come to fruition. UFC CEO Dana White said he expects McGregor back in the UFC by the end of 2025.
McGregor posted on social media that he was disappointed in the decision and that he planned to appeal, He said the “modest award” given to Hand was only for his assault of her, and appeared to try to ease his level of guilt by saying she was not awarded anything for “aggravated or exemplary damages.”
McGregor also said he was with his family and “focused on my future.”
I will be appealing today’s decision. The judge’s instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages. I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed. I am with my family now, focused on my future.…
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 22, 2024
Hand spoke to reporters from a pre-written statement while surrounded by family and friends outside the courthouse moments after the verdict was handed down.
“I’m overwhelmed. I’m touched by the support I’ve received from everybody,” Hand said.”… (My daughter) has given me the strength and courage over the last six years throughout this nightmare to keep on pushing for justice. I want to show (her) and every other girl and boy that if something happens to you, you can stand up for yourself – no matter who the person is, and justice will be served.”
Several days after the trial, Devlin, who is the mother of McGregor’s four children, attacked Hand’s character in a series of messages on her Instagram Stories.
“Imagine a WOMAN, with her own boyfriend and child, texting provocative pictures of herself to another woman’s man with a family and child on the way,” Devlin wrote. “This woman claims to know me, yet still went ahead and sent messages and pictures of herself over and over to my man? Really? Whilst out on a 3-day bender, texting excuses to her own child at home where mammy is on a Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, Sunday night night into Monday morning. All the while out of her face in a hotel room, dancing around a hotel carpark. What sort of WOMAN are you!!! My sons will be warned women like you exist in the world.”
