Conor McGregor has been forced to pay £206,556.03 in damages after a jury ruled the UFC star liable for the assault of a woman.
The jury had been considering their verdict on civil action brought by Nikita Hand against Mr McGregor and another man, James Lawrence.
Ms Hand didn’t win her case against the second named defendant and Mr McGregor’s friend, Lawrence, as the jury said he did not assault her.
Mr McGregor, however, was ordered to pay Ms Hand €248,603.60 (£206,556.03) in damages.
The trial was a civil case after the director of public prosecutions in Ireland decided not to charge Mr McGregor criminally, meaning the latter could not have faced a prison sentence.
In a Republic of Ireland civil action – as opposed to a criminal case – neither the complainant nor the accused are entitled to automatic anonymity during the court proceedings.
Ms Hand alleged that she was sexually assaulted in December 2018, accusing Mr McGregor of raping her in a hotel bedroom in Dublin.
The 35-year-old was seeking damages for assault arising from the alleged rape.
Before sending the jury out for deliberation, Mr Justice Alexander Owens had told the eight men and four women that just nine of them have to be in agreement on whether one or both men are to be found liable of assault.
The jury had sat through eight days of evidence, including from Ms Hand, Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence as well as doctors and two paramedics.
Both men had denied the claims by the 35-year-old and pleaded they separately had consensual sex with Ms hand at the hotel in December, 2018.
A Dublin native, Mr McGregor, 36, is one of the most recognisable names in sport, having cemented himself as one of the most popular fighters in the UFC.
Notable career highlights include becoming the first UFC fighter in history to hold two titles in two weight divisions at the same time when he won the featherweight and lightweight belts in 2015 and 2016.
He also crossed over into boxing for a lucrative fight against Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
Ms Hand’s allegations come from a period two months after Mr McGregor lost a highly anticipated lightweight title bout to Russia’s Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 36-year-old made his debut for Dana White’s promotion all the way back in April 2013, after emerging through the ranks at Irish-owned MMA promotion Cage Warriors.
He won his first seven bouts in the UFC and infamously knocked out Jose Aldo after 13 seconds in 2015 to claim featherweight gold.
McGregor then suffered his first UFC defeat in the octagon to Nate Diaz, before beating the American in their rematch and becoming a two-division champion.
The Irishman knocked out Eddie Alvarez in November 2016 after two rounds to become the first-ever fighter to hold two UFC belts simultaneously.
