Conor McGregor was found civilly liable for sexual assault by a court in Ireland. He must pay the victim $260,000 (USD) from an incident that occurred in 2018.
The Irish equivalent to a criminal prosecutor deemed that there was not sufficient evidence to charge McGregor with a crime but the victim sued in civil court which has a lower threshold to prove.
The victim’s story was not clean but it still found McGregor of sexual assault. Her and a friend went to a Christmas party when they met McGregor and a friend. They were picked up by McGregor and taken to the Beacon Hotel in Dublin. They took cocaine and went to the penthouse suite. McGregor asked her to the bedroom where he forcibly raped her. He had put her in a chokehold three times.
Notably, McGregor’s friend, James Lawrence, sexually assaulted her as well during the night while she was passed out. However, he was not found liable for sexual assault.
McGregor took to social media after the verdict on Friday and stated that he would appeal the result.
The 36-year-old has not fought in the UFC since July 2021. A fight that was to occur this past June against Michael Chandler did not occur to a broken toe. There is no real timeline for his return.
Payout Perspective:
Will this hurt McGregor’s return to the UFC? No. While this will read unsympathetic, combat sports does not really care about sexual assault. Mike Tyson was convicted of rape and spent time in prison yet a majority of people were rooting for him against Jake Paul. Jon Jones, who headlined UFC 309 last week, was suspected of domestic violence. Dana White, the head of the UFC, was videotaped slapping his wife. So, if and when McGregor returns, this will not deter his star power because the combat sports fan seems to be able to compartmentalize their morality.
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