What are the allegations against Conor McGregor? Details are explored as he gets sued by Nikita Hand

Former UFC superstar Conor McGregor is back in headlines, but not for knockouts. Instead, he's facing new legal heat as Nikita Hand has launched a fresh lawsuit following a civil ruling in November, 2024. McGregor was previously found liable in a Dublin High Court case over alleged s*xual assault dating back to December 2018. Now, Hand is amping things up, suing McGregor again, this time accusing him and two others of abusing the legal process in his botched appeal.

The latest chapter has set Dublin’s civil courts buzzing, with serious questions around evidence retractions, alleged witness tampering, and broader claims of manipulation of court procedures. While McGregor continues to deny wrongdoing and portrays the entire saga as a media-fed smear, his legal battles are far from over.

Allegations against Conor McGregor, why and how he got sued by Nikita Hand

At the heart of the matter: the allegations against Conor McGregor stem from an incident on December 9–10, 2018, in a Dublin hotel penthouse, when Nikita Hand said she was driven there by McGregor after a work holiday party. Hand testified she was "brutally raped and battered," with medical examiners documenting injuries the next day. A High Court jury found in her favour in November 2024, ordering McGregor to pay nearly €250,000 in damages, and much more in legal costs.

McGregor has consistently denied the claims. He argued the encounter was consensual and challenged jury instructions and the admissibility of his “no comment” police interview, in which he had reportedly responded "without comment" nearly 100 times. His appeal, filed earlier in 2025, hinged on these procedural points, but it was dismissed outright by the Irish Court of Appeal on July 31, 2025.

McGregor’s legal team even tried to introduce fresh witness statements from two of Hand’s former neighbours, Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins, claiming that Hand’s injuries were caused by her ex-partner, not by him. But this evidence was withdrawn at the start of the appeal, described by the court as “mysterious,” and Hand’s team argued it amounted to perjury or inducement, and the court agreed to refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Following the rejection of his appeal, McGregor took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent: he denied ever offering a settlement, calling rumours of a €1 million proposal false, and claimed Hand’s side tried to settle for €3 million after being “caught in a lie under oath”.

In response, Nikita Hand is not backing down. On August 1, 2025, she initiated a new lawsuit against McGregor and the two neighbours for “malicious abuse” of court procedures. She alleges the attempt to submit dubious evidence during the appeal was intentional and improper, a fresh civil claim aimed at damages and accountability.

Hand, present in court during the appeal judgment, later said:

“To every survivor out there… please don’t be silenced … You deserve to be heard… Today I can finally move on and try to heal”

So, the allegations against Conor McGregor began with a 2018 s*xual assault claim, led to a civil liability ruling in 2024, and now a failed appeal in 2025. With Nikita Hand filing a new lawsuit over alleged court manipulation, the legal fight is far from over.