Fox News Flash Top Sports Headlines for November 23
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A civil jury in Ireland ruled that Conor McGregor assaulted a woman in a penthouse after a night of partying in 2018 during a sexual encounter, but McGregor says the claims are false.
The former UFC champion said, in a since-deleted post, that he would appeal the civil jury's decision, but he ranted on X earlier Saturday about his accuser's "lies."
The accuser, Nikita Hand, also accused triathlete James Lawrence of assault on the same night that McGregor allegedly "brutally raped and battered" her.
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Conor McGregor attends the "Road House" New York premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 19, 2024, in New York City. (Manoli Figetakis/WireImage)
Despite the court ordering McGregor to pay over $250,000, it also found that Lawrence was innocent.
"Justice was served for James Lawrence, yes! Deplorable what they done. Nikita hand, vicious liar! APPEAL!" McGregor posted on X Saturday morning in reposting a story from the Irish Independent.
McGregor also wrote that Hand had "falsely accused a man of rape and lost."
"Two men falsely accused. One vindicated, the other soon to be! Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration!" McGregor wrote in another post. "Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE! LIES! It is absolutely disgraceful what they put you through here. Disgraceful! I look forward to seeing you further vindicate yourself and lambast those responsible in court! We know what happened that night! Everyone present knows, yet it was ignored. Every single statement of persons present on the night was ignored. And they all disputed Nikita’s LIES!"
Lawrence himself wrote in an Instagram Story post that Hand is "an absolute disgrace and a slap in the face to any girl that did ever go threw [sic] this for real."
Conor McGregor leaves the court, as the court breaks for the jury's decision in the civil action case, P Ní Laimhin v McGregor & Anor, in High Court 24 at Chancery Place in Dublin. (David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
CONOR MCGREGOR FOUND LIABLE OF ASSAULT IN IRELAND CIVIL COURT STEMMING FROM SEXUAL ENCOUNTER
Hand said that McGregor had bruised her during sex, to a point where a paramedic testified that he had not seen someone with that intensity of bruising. She also claimed that McGregor had put her in a chokehold several times and later told her, "Now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped out three times."
McGregor said that the two had had sex that had been athletic and vigorous but not rough. He said that "she never said, ‘No’ or stopped" and testified that everything she had said was a lie.
McGregor previously was accused of sexually assaulting someone in a bathroom at an NBA Finals game in 2022, but he avoided charges.
UFC fighter Conor McGregor after the undisputed super lightweight championship fight between Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron at the 3Arena in Dublin. (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
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McGregor, who hasn't fought since 2021, was set to return to the ring at UFC 303, but his injury kept him away from the Octagon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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