Content warning: This article includes graphic details of sexual assault.
UFC fighter Conor McGregor vehemently denied allegations of sexual assault on Wednesday, speaking for the first time since a civil trial against him started in Dublin, Ireland last week.
McGregor took the stand on the sixth day of his trial, fighting the accusation that he raped a woman while at a penthouse in 2018. His remarks, along with other recent news regarding the case, have been reported on the ground by The Irish Mirror since the trial started just over a week ago.
Comments made by McGregor on Wednesday only briefly aligned with claims from the plaintiff, who Knockdown News has decided not to mention by name. He acknowledged that they did meet in December 2018 and go to a penthouse along with a friend of the plaintiffs and co-defendant James Lawrence, although little about their stories matched after that point.
McGregor strongly disagreed with many of the allegations made by the plaintiff, claiming she stated “lies and more lies” with her story. The MMA fighter recalled the plaintiff being “enthusiastic” while they were together and said he had no responsibility for the significant bruising that medical professionals found on her the next day. At one point, he reportedly suggested that her bruising “possibly came from her diving into the bath.”
He also denied that the plaintiff was menstruating or wearing a tampon. This detail emerged due to the alleged victim claiming that she didn’t want to have sex while menstruating and that a tampon had to be removed from her body when visiting a hospital the next day. McGregor claimed he “would not have had sex” with the plaintiff if that was the case.
Earlier this week, the court heard medical experts weigh in on the physical damages the plaintiff was admitted into the hospital with the day after the alleged incident, and the long-term mental struggles she has dealt with.
Dublin Fire Brigade paramedics Neil Dempsey and Eithne Scully spoke about seeing “visible marks in and around” the throat of the plaintiff. Scully recalled never seeing anyone more bruised than the plaintiff that day.
Family doctor Dr. Frank Clarke and psychiatrist Dr. Ann Leader also spoke about their PTSD diagnosis of the plaintiff. They also said trauma has caused the plaintiff to go years without holding a job, making a doctor deem her “unfit to work” recently.
A majority of last week’s court proceedings saw the plaintiff on the stand. She was able to tell her story, alleging that while under the influence of cocaine and alcohol she was forcibly choked and held down by McGregor while having sex. “I didn’t want to have sex and I wasn’t there for anything like that,” she said. “He just wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
On the flip side, she also spent significant time getting pressed by McGregor’s legal team, who attempted to illustrate a pattern of inconsistencies in her story. They questioned the texts she had with her boyfriend the evening of the alleged assault, which briefly obscured to her partner what she had been doing. The defence also focused on CCTV footage from that evening, pairing it up against many comments made by the plaintiff.
The case is expected to continue until the end of the week.
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