Conor McGregor’s legal troubles stemming from Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Finals aren’t over yet.
The former UFC star, found liable in November for sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room while intoxicated in 2018, is facing a civil suit from an anonymous woman claiming McGregor sexually assaulted her at the Kaseya Center on June 9, 2023.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Florida, stems from an incident reported days after the Heat-Nuggets game, during which McGregor was part of the in-game entertainment and famously sent Heat mascot Burnie to the hospital with a punch.
This lawsuit accuses McGregor of battery and the arena with gross negligence in keeping a safe atmosphere by continuing to serve the boxer alcoholic beverages after he was allegedly intoxicated.
The Miami Heat, who hosted the Finals game on June 9, were also named as a defendant in the lawsuit for allegedly over-serving the Dublin, Ireland native.
Additionally, Basketball Properties LLC, which operates the Heat’s Kaseya Center, is listed as a defendant.
When the game ended, the lawsuit states an acquaintance of McGregor’s grabbed the accuser’s wrist and led her away from the courtside club, saying “Conor will kill me if I lose you.”
McGregor eventually appeared and escorted his accuser into a bathroom at the arena, where the lawsuit says he “attempted to forcefully place his unprotected penis into Jane Doe’s mouth without her consent.”
In June, a video emerged of McGregor leading the woman into the bathroom before a door was blocked by security.
The lawsuit detailed how the woman tried to escape, but McGregor slammed her into a wall and put her in an arm lock. Eventually, she was able to leave and left the arena.
The accuser said in the complaint that the fighter was “under the influence of intoxicants and out of control.”
McGregor denied the previous allegations to TMZ, and after the video was made public, he said in a statement that the allegations were “no more than a shakedown.”
McGregor did not come away facing any criminal charges due to “insufficient evidence” to prove the 35-year-old sexually assaulted the accuser.
The woman is looking for past and future medical treatment compensatory damages worth more than $75,000 and litigation costs, along with other relief.
“The special treatment of [McGregor] by allowing him to pour his own alcoholic drinks as well as the failure to cut [McGregor]’s access to alcoholic beverages off after he was overserved demonstrates a conscious disregard for the safety patrons similarly situated to and including [the plaintiff],” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit alleges that arena staff was aware of the injuries suffered by Burnie during the mascot’s interaction with McGregor and continued to serve the fighter alcoholic beverages.
“After the Miami-Dade County Prosecutor’s office elected not to pursue criminal charges, a civil case is the only avenue that my client has to seek justice in this case,” James Dunn, the lawyer for accuser, told Front Office Sports in an email. “My client has thought long and hard about the decision to pursue this civil case, and is fearful of the effect it may have on her job on Wall Street.”
McGregor, 36, was in attendance to promote a pain relief spray, TIDL, of which he did a promotional stunt for with the help of Heat mascot, Burnie.
Burnie endured two punches from McGregor before the boxer sprayed him with the product. However, the mascot walked away with serious injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
Following the fighter being found liable for sexual assault in November over a 2018 incident, McGregor was ordered to pay the victim, Nikita Hand, $264,000 in damages.
The boxer has since been dropped by alcohol and grocery sponsors, including by a $600 million whiskey empire he had a hand in building.
