Hand had shared that McGregor had put her in a chokehold “several times” during their 2018 meeting, and he had told her amid her struggles, “now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped out three times,” referring to a loss he had experienced during the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The hair colorist—who is mom to a daughter—explained that she feared for her life as McGregor had intercourse with her.
“He let me go and I remember saying I was sorry,” Hand detailed in her testimony, per the Associated Press. “I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again.”
For his part, McGregor—who was supported by partner Dee Devlin, with whom he has been with since 2008, amid the court battle—said in his own testimony that Hand’s statement was “a lie” and described the intercourse as “athletic” and “vigorous,” but not rough, adding, “She never said ‘no,’ or stopped.”
This is not the first time McGregor has faced legal trouble pertaining to allegations of sexual assault. In 2023, a woman accused the MMA fighter of assaulting her in the bathroom of a Miami Heat game during the NBA Finals. The State Attorney’s Office of Miami later shared that no criminal charges would be filed pertaining to the allegation, citing insufficient evidence.
