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Conor McGregor came face-to-face with the woman who is suing him in civil court claiming he sexually assaulted her.
Nikita Ni Lamhain, also known as Nikita Hand, says she was attacked by the former UFC champion and another man, James Lawrence, following a December 2018 Christmas party.
During her testimony this week in the High Court in Dublin, Nikita Hand broke down in tears, stating that she thought she might die during the alleged attack.
She claimed that Conor McGregor pinned her to a bed at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin, leaving her unable to breathe.
“The only thing I could move was my head. I bit him but I can’t remember where. He didn’t like it so he flipped me around and put his arm around my neck and choked me,” she testified, The Independent reports.
After a break, Hand returned to testify, “He pinned me to the bed and I held my hands to my chest and he put his whole body weight on top of me and I couldn’t breathe.
“The only thing I could move was my head and I bit him and tried my best to get away from him. I tried to shove him and wiggle and do whatever I could.
“I remember biting really hard and then his arms were around me and choking me,” Hand continued.
“I was trying to fight as much as I could. He put his arm around my neck and choked me three times.
“I just froze and I couldn’t move or breathe and I kept looking at the bedpost and thinking of my daughter.
“I just kept thinking I would die and not see my daughter again.”
Nikita Hand’s attorney, John Gordon SC, the Guardian reports, stated that she and Conor McGregor knew each other prior to the alleged assault as they were about the same age, were from the same area and had mutual friends.
She claims that and two of her friends were partying at her hair her salon when she contacted McGregor. He then picked Hand and a friend up in his car where he sat in the back seat with them before picking up Lawrence.
She also testified that Conor McGregor had a bag of cocaine in the car which he shared with her and her friend.
Gordon told the court, “You will see pictures of her hands and wrists, which are black and blue. You will see that her left breast has a bloodied scratch. The scratch is there because she was wearing a watch and had her hands up to protect herself. She was pressed down on and the watch scarred her breast.”
Nikita Hand also testified, “He let me go and I remember saying I was sorry, as I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again.
“Then he said that’s how he felt when he was in the octagon and had to tap out three times. I thought it was such a weird thing to say.
“I promised I wouldn’t tell anybody anything. Then I just let him do whatever he needed to do so I could survive. My mind was completely gone and I wasn’t myself anymore.
“He was really aggressive and pulling at my clothes and shoving my head down to do things and I kept pulling my head back. He was trying to push my head down to his penis but I pushed my head back.
“He was pulling my clothes down. He then raped me. I felt like it was going on for ages.”
Conor McGregor denies the allegations and claims Hand is trying to extort him.
Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to criminally prosecute McGregor or Lawrence in 2020 for the alleged sexual assault due to a lack of evidence and no reasonable prospect of conviction.
Nikita Hand also said she had no recollection of Lawrence engaging in sex with her, despite being informed by police after they had investigated the alleged incident that she had.
“I was shocked, I had no memory of that whatsoever,” Hand told the court.
In CCTV footage of that night, the BBC reports, Hand and Lawrence appeared barefoot in some of the video, were carrying drinks and struggling to return to their room from the hotel elevator.
She said she had no recollection of being in the elevator or in the car park.