Conor McGregor accused of sexual assault in lawsuit

A woman who accused Conor McGregor of sexually assaulting her after a 2023 NBA Finals game has filed a lawsuit against the former UFC star.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, also alleges that staff and security at the Kaseya Center, the Miami Heat’s home arena, engaged in gross negligence.

The woman, who is described in the lawsuit as a 49-year-old resident of Miami-Dade County who works as a vice president on Wall Street at a “leading financial institution,” alleges that McGregor sexually assaulted her in a bathroom at the arena after Game 4 of the Heat’s NBA Finals series against the Denver Nuggets on June 9, 2023.

The civil suit stems from the same allegation of criminal sexual assault against McGregor filed in June 2023. An incident report was filed with the City of Miami Police Department on June 11, 2023, at 6 p.m., under 48 hours after the alleged sexual assault. The Florida State Attorney’s Office declined to file charges in the alleged October 2023 assault.

“After a thorough investigation conducted at the time, the State Attorney concluded that there was no case to pursue,” McGregor’s attorney, Barbara Llanes, said in an emailed statement at ESPN. “Nearly two years and at least three lawyers later, the plaintiff has a new false story. We are confident that this case will also be dismissed.”

McGregor, now 36, also denied the allegations in 2023, when Llanes told ESPN that the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion “is not going to be intimidated.”

The lawsuit seeks medical treatment costs, compensatory damages and other relief deemed reasonable from the Heat and McGregor.

The woman’s attorney, Jim Dunn, wrote in an email to ESPN that his client was pursuing the civil action to “raise awareness and encourage others to report sexual assault.”

“My client has thought long and hard about the decision to pursue this civil action and fears the effects it could have on her work on Wall Street,” Dunn said. “Nevertheless, her primary goal in filing this complaint is to raise awareness and encourage others to report sexual assault.”

The complaint, which was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that McGregor “intentionally engaged in unlawful sexual contact” without the woman’s “consent or permission.”

After the Nuggets-Heat game, the lawsuit alleges, McGregor and the woman began talking at the Courtside Club at the Kaseya Center. An acquaintance of the woman said she and the woman were leaving when a member of McGregor’s team allegedly told the woman that “Conor told me to come get you” and then grabbed the woman by the wrist . The woman alleges she asked to be released and was told: “No, Conor will kill me if I lose you.”

The lawsuit alleges that McGregor grabbed the woman’s hand or wrist outside the men’s restroom and led her into the restroom and that his acquaintance followed her. The woman was then allegedly taken to a booth, where the suit alleges security and/or staff at the Kaseya Center would not allow this acquaintance to follow her. McGregor then assaulted the woman inside the booth, according to the lawsuit.

Dunn told ESPN in a separate phone interview that her client filed the civil suit because it was “the only avenue she had to get justice,” after Miami-Dade County decided not to pursue criminal charges. The limitation period in a civil case for serious misconduct is two years.

The lawsuit also mentions an earlier incident with McGregor that evening, when he twice punched the Heat’s mascot, “Burnie,” during an on-court skit promoting painkiller spray, sending the man to the hospital. The suit alleges the mascot’s injuries were known to arena staff but not to the general public during the game.

Dunn alleged that McGregor received special treatment from arena staff because he was allowed to stay in the arena and was still served alcohol after the incident with Burnie , which occurred before the alleged attack on the woman. The lawsuit therefore alleges that Kaseya Center staff “had knowledge of an increased risk of battery” from McGregor.

McGregor last fought in the UFC in July 2021, a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in Las Vegas.