Nikita Hand, the hairdresser from Dublin who won her civil case against Conor McGregor after a jury found he [ ] her in 2018, spoke to Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio 1 in her first public interview since the verdict, and she did not hold back on McGregor’s continued platform in combat sports and media.
McGregor returned to the UFC over the summer for a brief appearance, and in the run-up to it, he sat for what Hand called a “cozy interview” with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. Hand said she couldn’t bring herself to watch it.
“No, I didn’t watch it. No, I wouldn’t be able to watch that. But I heard about it, you know. There’s no way for me getting away from any of it. Like if he’s given a platform, something huge like that to be on a TV show, it’s in my face, you know, and it was [ ] for me, you know, to see that. It felt like we were going backwards instead of forwards, you know.”
She described the toll of having McGregor’s public rehabilitation forced into her daily life, saying that avoiding it means cutting herself off almost entirely.
“For me to kind of get away from that for a few days, I need to kind of switch off my phone. I can’t go on to social media, you know. Even if I walk into a local shop, it’s in the newspaper. So it’s nearly kind of like staying at home, you know, and I shouldn’t have to live like that, you know.”
Hand confirmed she has received no apology from McGregor and said she has no interest in one.
“No, I don’t forgive him. I don’t feel like I have to say anything to him. I don’t think we need to have a conversation. I gave my evidence, he gave his, and the jury made a decision.”
The jury’s finding, upheld on appeal, awarded Hand damages after she testified McGregor pinned her down and ch[ ]ked her three times in a Dublin hotel room in December 2018.
