UFC icon Conor McGregor is back in the headlines—this time not for a fight, but for a legal battle that continues to cloud his future in the Octagon. On Tuesday, proceedings began for ‘The Notorious’s appeal against a High Court civil ruling stemming from a 2018 incident in Dublin. In that case, a jury of eight women and four men found in favor of Nikita Hand, who had accused the fighter of assault.

The Dublin High Court told the Irishman to pay more than €248,000 (£206,000) in damages and over €1.5 million (£1.24 million) in legal fees in 2024. The decision made people angry and made it very unlikely that Conor McGregor would return to the UFC soon. The high-stakes court battle has reached a key point now that the appeal is in progress. This is what you need to know.

Conor McGregor’s appeal takes a dramatic U-turn in Nikita Hand assault case

In February, Conor McGregor lodged an appeal against the Dublin High Court’s civil ruling in a case brought by Nikita Hand. That appeal formally commenced today at Ireland’s Court of Appeal. But unexpectedly, the Court of Appeal granted ‘The Notorious’s legal team permission to withdraw their prior application to introduce new evidence supporting his defense. The proposed evidence was to come from Samantha O’Reilly and her husband Steven Cummins, former neighbors of Nikita Hand.

The Irishman’s team had aimed to use their testimony to suggest that the bruises and injuries found on Ms. Hand may have been caused by a domestic altercation with her partner, Stephen Redmond, and not by Conor McGregor himself—a claim previously raised during a preliminary hearing. The Court of Appeal, which is made up of three judges, had allowed the evidence to be submitted. However, McGregor’s lawyers decided not to go through with it. It is still not clear if they will try to add further evidence later in the case.

Meanwhile, Nikita Hand’s lawyer has demanded an apology from Conor McGregor and his legal representatives for the attempted submission. ‘The Notorious’ also dropped a separate effort to present expert input from a former state pathologist. Nikita Hand, for her part, reportedly took issue with the move to involve her ex-neighbors in the case—individuals she accused of spreading “lies.”

Nikita Hand challenges McGregor’s evidence request

Conor McGregor’s legal team has withdrawn their application to call Nikita Hand’s former neighbors as witnesses, citing concerns that their involvement could complicate the case. To substantiate the couple’s claims, ‘The Notorious’ would have needed additional corroborating evidence — something currently lacking official weight.

The neighbors in question, Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins, had previously alleged they witnessed a physical altercation between Nikita Hand and her partner, Stephen Redmond. Conor McGregor’s legal team argued that the alleged incident between Hand and Redmond could explain the bruises on her body — suggesting McGregor did not cause them on the disputed night.

However, Nikita Hand firmly refuted that narrative in a sworn statement, rejecting her former neighbors’ version of events as false and maintaining that Stephen Redmond never harmed her. As she testified under oath: “My ex-partner Stephen Redmond [known as ‘Ste’] did not assault me on the night of December 9/10, 2018, and never assaulted me during our relationship, or since.” She continued, “I don’t want to speculate on why Samantha and Steven are making up these lies.”

Meanwhile, the court expects the hearing to continue for approximately two days. Conor McGregor attended today’s session, and following a brief recess, the judges will resume proceedings at 2 p.m. As the legal battle unfolds, stay tuned for further updates.