Posted by “The fight game awaits!” Conor McGregor proclaimed
to his millions of social media followers on Tuesday, while retailers pulled products linked to him from shelves, murals of him were erased and brands announced they had cut ties.
It followed a 12-person jury in Dublin finding McGregor guilty of sexual assault in a civil case brought by Nikita Hand, who accused him of raping her at a Dublin hotel in December 2018. She was awarded nearly €250,000 (£208,000) in damages. In a social media post, McGregor said he would appeal the decision.
Ms Hand’s case was one of several legal issues and controversies that McGregor, one of Ireland’s most famous athletes, has faced over the past few years.
In 2018, he was arrested in New York for throwing a metal dolly at the window of a bus which had a group of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) staff and athletes on board. A year later, he was convicted and fined €1,000 (£850) for punching a man who rejected his offer of a drink in a Dublin pub.
Some commentators argue that support for McGregor within Ireland, where he had been thought of as a trailblazer, has been dwindling for some time – but the shift after Ms Hand’s civil case was seismic.Within a week, hundreds of supermarkets in both the UK and Ireland removed brands associated with him. Proximo Spirits, the company that bought McGregor’s Proper No Twelve whiskey brand in 2021, said it did not plan to use his name or likeness in its marketing going forward.
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