Conor McGregor’s appeal against a decision in a civil case in which a woman accused him of raping her is due to begin.
Former hairdresser Nikita Hand, 35, sued the mixed martial arts fighter over an incident at a south Dublin hotel in December 2018.
He was said to have “brutally raped and battered” Ms Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel.
During a three-week case at the High Court in Dublin last November, McGregor told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand.
After six hours and 10 minutes of deliberating, the jury of eight women and four men found McGregor civilly liable for assault.
Ms Hand was awarded 248,603.60 euro (about £206,000) in damages.
McGregor was ordered by a judge to pay Ms Hand 100,000 euro (£85,000) of the damages and 200,000 euro (£170,000) of an expected 1.3 million euro (£1.1 million) in legal costs before the appeal, which the court heard had been done.
Ms Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, lost her case against another man, James Lawrence, who she accused of assaulting her by allegedly having sex without her consent at the same hotel.
On Tuesday morning, the Court of Appeal in Dublin is to hear new evidence in support of McGregor’s appeal.
