MIAMI – UFC star Conor McGregor has been accused of sexually assaulting and battering a woman last week after Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Miami.
In demand letters sent to McGregor, the Miami Heat and the NBA and obtained by USA TODAY Sports on Thursday, Miami-based attorney Ariel E. Mitchell alleges McGregor “aggressively” kissed the woman, forced her to have oral sex and attempted to sodomize her inside a bathroom at the Kaseya Center.
“The allegations are false. Mr. McGregor will not be intimidated,” McGregor’s attorney, Barbara R. Llanes, said in a statement released through McGregor’s PR firm to USA TODAY Sports.
The Miami Police Department did not immediately respond to an incident report request from USA TODAY Sports.
According to the demand letters, the woman was “forced” into a restroom with McGregor and his security guard following the June 9 game between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.
“Mr. McGregor, aided and abetted by the NBA and Miami Heat Kaseya security, had the victim physically forced via security into the men’s bathroom, separating her from her friend and trapping her inside with Mr. McGregor and his security guard,” the letters said.
The woman’s attorney alleges McGregor’s security did not allow anyone to enter the area.
The Miami Heat said in a statement Thursday: “We are aware of the allegations and are conducting a full investigation. Pending the outcome of the investigation, we will withhold further comment.”
NBA chief communications officer Mike Bass said in a statement Thursday: “We are aware of the allegations and are working with the team to gather more information.”
The UFC also released a statement: “The organization is aware of the recent allegations regarding Conor McGregor and will continue to gather additional details regarding the incident. UFC will allow the legal process to play out before making any additional statements.”
McGregor emerged from the handicapped stall and “shoved his tongue in the victim’s mouth and aggressively kissed her,” the woman’s attorney claimed. The attorney added that McGregor forced his penis into her mouth when she attempted to urinate in the bathroom.
As the woman tried to leave the bathroom stall, McGregor allegedly grabbed her, pinned her against the wall, ripped her pants and attempted to sodomize her, the woman’s attorney said. She said the woman elbowed McGregor repeatedly to escape.
McGregor caused a stir during Game 4 in a promotional skit gone bad with Heat mascot Burnie, while promoting a pain-relief spray. McGregor hit the Heat mascot twice, causing the mascot to seek medical treatment after the game.
McGregor, 34, is one of the most famous fighters in UFC history and was the highest-paid athlete in the world, making $180 million in Forbes’ 2021 list.
In 2018 McGregor was accused of raping a woman in a Dublin hotel penthouse. Irish police and prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges against McGregor after investigating the case for more than a year, the New York Times reported. The woman filed a civil lawsuit against McGregor in 2021. A spokeswoman for McGregor denied the allegations at the time.
He has faced other legal troubles, fined by a Dublin court in 2019 for punching a man in a pub. He also faced charges that year for smashing a fan’s cell phone in an incident in Miami. Florida prosecutors later dropped the charges.