Conor McGregor has lost his appeal against a High Court jury’s finding that he raped Nikita Hand.
Ms Hand sued Mr McGregor for damages for raping her on 9 December 2018 at a hotel in Dublin.
The jury at the civil trial found that Mr McGregor had raped Ms Hand and awarded her almost €250,000 in damages.
Mr McGregor had intended to introduce fresh evidence into his appeal to give an alternative explanation for the bruises suffered by Ms Hand but withdrew his application as the case began.
The court has said it intends to refer this matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The court based its ruling on Mr McGregor’s remaining grounds of appeal – that his garda interviews should not have been admitted into evidence and that the issue paper given to the jury should have specified sexual assault and not simply an “assault”.
The appeal court has also refused to award costs to Mr McGregor’s friend James Lawrence saying evidence he gave in support of Mr McGregor was “untruthful” and his costs were paid by the fighter.
Speaking outside court, Ms Hand said the appeal had “retraumatised” her “over and over again”.
“Being forced to relive it – what happened – has had a huge impact on me,” she said.
Ms Hand added that it was a “long and painful journey” and she was “deeply grateful to everyone who believed in” her.
“To every survivor out there, I know how hard it is, but please don’t be silenced,” she said.
“You deserve to be heard, you also deserve justice.”
“Today, I can finally move on and try to heal,” she said.
