Conor McGregor sued, accused of sexual assault during 2023 Heat game

UFC star Conor McGregor was sued Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in 2023 after an NBA Finals game.

The lawsuit comes nearly two years after McGregor was first accused by the woman of sexually assaulting her in a bathroom at the Kaseya Center after Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets , which took place on June 9. the Heat and the Kaseya Center as co-defendants.

The first interactions between McGregor and the woman were friendly, according to the lawsuit. But when she tried to leave the Kesaya Center Courtside Club area, the woman said she was dragged by the hand to a nearby bathroom by one of McGregor’s friends or members of the private security.

There, the lawsuit says, McGregor drove her to a booth where the alleged assault took place.

McGregor’s lawyer called Tuesday’s filing “another false story.”

“After a thorough investigation conducted at the time, the State’s Attorney concluded that there was no case to pursue,” McGregor’s attorney, Barbara Llanes, said in a statement to Athletics, referencing a 2023 criminal investigation into the same allegations. “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.

The Heat and Kaseya Center declined to comment on the lawsuit and the UFC did not respond to a request for comment.

The trial comes two months after another woman who accused McGregor of raping her in a Dublin hotel room in December 2018 won a civil action against the fighter in November. McGregor, who denied the accusations, was ordered to pay $257,000 to the accuser.

The woman in Tuesday’s lawsuit, who is identified as “49 years old and employed as a senior vice president on Wall Street at a leading financial institution,” is seeking compensation “for past and future medical treatment, compensatory damages and costs, and any other additional relief” that the court deems necessary.

In an email to Athletics On Wednesday, her attorney James Dunn said it was important to note that the plaintiff filed a police report shortly after the incident on June 11, 2023. Less than a week later, the Heat released a statement that he was conducting a thorough investigation.

“After the Miami-Dade County District Attorney’s Office chose not to pursue criminal charges, a civil case is the only avenue my client has to seek justice in this matter,” Dunn said. “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.”

According to Dunn, McGregor made no statements to police in 2023 while invoking his Fifth Amendment and Miranda rights.

Dunn said the plaintiff’s main goal in filing the lawsuit was to raise awareness and encourage others to report sexual assault.

The lawsuit also mentions the incident involving McGregor injuring the man playing the Heat’s mascot, Burnie. The incident, which took place in the third quarter of the same game where the alleged sexual assault took place, began with a skit featuring McGregor punching Burnie and ended with the man playing the mascot being sent to the hospital with an injury.

According to Tuesday’s lawsuit, staff at the Kaseya Center were “informed” of the “potential danger McGregor posed to patrons” after the incident with Burnie. The lawsuit contends that arena staff “had knowledge of an increased risk of battery committed by” McGregor, but their failure to warn and protect the woman demonstrated a conscious disregard for patrons’ safety.

McGregor, 36, has not fought in the UFC since losing to Dustin Poirier in 2021. He withdrew from a planned fight with Michael Chandler in July due to injury and has since said that he had agreed to a boxing exhibition against Logan Paul in India.

(Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)