Details Emerge on Miami Sexual Assault Claims Against MMA Star Conor McGregor

A Miami attorney claims her client spent "the whole day crying" after mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor allegedly tried to force her into a sexual encounter in a VIP club at the Kaseya Center following Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

Ariel Mitchell tells New Times her client deteriorated into a frantic state after the encounter in a restroom in the Courtside Club — a high-priced VIP room tucked inside the Miami Heat's stadium — in the early hours of June 10. According to Mitchell, the woman went to the Miami Police Department on June 11 to report the incident but was "turned away" and advised to seek legal counsel.

"She really didn't know what to do, really emotional. My client is a respectable career professional. She's not some young 'THOT,'" says Mitchell, whom the woman contacted after her initial attempt to file a police report. "She was just jarred by this experience."

As it happened, the attorney says she was also in attendance at Game 4 and was sitting behind McGregor.

The alleged victim returned to the Miami Police Department alongside Mitchell on June 14, filed a report over the incident, and turned over her clothes for forensic analysis, Mitchell says.

McGregor's representatives denied the allegations in a statement saying, "Mr. McGregor will not be intimidated."

"The allegations are false," the statement reads.

The Miami Police Department confirmed to New Times that the incident is under investigation by a special victims' unit.

Courtside Club Encounter

Mitchell tells New Times her client met McGregor at the Kaseya Center the night of NBA Finals Game 4 and was having drinks with him in the Courtside Club, a VIP room inside the stadium that blasts pop music and offers bottle service to members. The Kaseya Center's marketing materials describe the area as "a chic, intimate getaway" with a neon sign declaring, "It was all a dream." The club is inaccessible to the general public, and membership is required for entry at a price of $7,000 per season.

Early in the evening, McGregor participated in a promotional skit for the fighter's pain-relief spray, in which he had a faux boxing match with the Heat's mascot Burnie around half-court. The fellow inside the Burnie costume reportedly was injured during the bit and taken to a local hospital.

Video footage obtained by TMZ shows McGregor taking a woman by the hand towards a men's bathroom in the Kaseya Center later that night, followed by a second woman and McGregor's security guard.

It was in a disabled-access stall of the bathroom that the alleged sexual assault took place, Mitchell says.

Mitchell sent demand letters to McGregor's purported agent, the Miami Heat, and the National Basketball Association, laying out the claims and warning of impending litigation.

In the letters, the attorney alleges McGregor had the victim separated from her friend, "trapping her inside with Mr. McGregor and his security guard." The letter states that McGregor tried to aggressively kiss her in the stall, but she "was able to get [him] to cease" the advance by telling him she had to use the toilet.

"When the victim attempted to urinate, Mr. McGregor, instead of giving her privacy to do so, pulled out his penis," Mitchell alleges in the letters.

The woman attempted to leave the bathroom and physically resisted the former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion repeatedly, but he persisted with the sexual advances, Mitchell writes. At one point, the attorney alleges, McGregor grabbed the victim and ripped her pants while pulling them down.

The demand letters threaten legal action against the Heat, saying security at the club should not have let McGregor take a woman into a men's bathroom, namely in light of past allegations against him.

Past Claims Against McGregor

McGregor has been previously accused of sexual misconduct in his hometown of Dublin and on the Mediterranean island of Corsica but was never convicted of a crime. He has vehemently denied wrongdoing.

In the Dublin incident, a woman accused McGregor of sexually assaulting her in a hotel penthouse in December 2018. The Independent reported that the Director of Public Prosecutions declined to press charges. The alleged victim filed a civil lawsuit, while McGregor maintained his innocence.

In the Corsica incident, the MMA star was accused of exposing his genitalia to a woman as she made her way to a bar bathroom in the French town of Calvi in August 2020. In April 2021, investigators found evidence was insufficient to pursue a case against McGregor.

"I am irate and putting out a warning loud and clear: Conor McGregor is not and will not be a target for those seeking to score a headline or a payday," McGregor's manager Audie Attar said before the Corsica investigation was closed.

Apart from claims of sexual misconduct, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legend has run into legal trouble for a handful of violent incidents outside the ring.

McGregor was arrested in March 2019 after he grabbed and smashed a man's phone outside the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. (The incident was captured on camera.) The phone's owner settled a lawsuit against McGregor over the incident, and according to Miami-Dade prosecutors, he declined to cooperate in the criminal case against the fighter, leading a robbery charge against McGregor to be dropped.

A month after the phone-smashing ordeal, McGregor — one of the UFC's biggest stars, credited with helping revive the league during its struggling years — was seen on video punching an older man in the face at the Marble Arch Pub in Dublin. He pleaded guilty to assault in an Irish court and was fined but served no jail time.

The year prior, in April 2018, McGregor participated in a headline-grabbing attack in which he chucked metal equipment at a bus carrying rival Khabib Nurmagomedov and other UFC fighters outside the Barclays Center at the UFC 223 event in New York City. He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and performed community service per court order.

High-Profile Litigator

Ariel Mitchell has made her mark in recent years representing clients in a spate of sexual assault claims lodged against high-profile defendants.

She is currently litigating an assault claim in Miami-Dade County against singer Tremaine Neverson AKA Trey Songz, alleging that he pushed his hand into a woman's vagina while she was hanging out with him and dancing at E11even nightclub in Miami. The case took an unusual turn when Neverson's legal team accused Mitchell of trying to pay off a witness, a claim Mitchell says was fabricated by the defendants and dismissed by the Florida Bar.

The attorney tells New Times that when she handles a claim against an entertainer or high-profile defendant, she is fighting against a "culture that protects celebrities." Her client in the Kaseya Center case has already been bombarded with online speculation that she's a clout-chaser or groupie.

"I've been seeing the comments already saying she's looking for clout. Looking for clout? Why is her name not everywhere then?" the attorney asks. "When [celebrities] do egregious things and exhibit abhorrent behavior, we look the other way."

In the letters sent to McGregor, the NBA, and the Heat over the alleged June 10 incident, Mitchell notes her firm has been "retained as litigation counsel to pursue all legal remedies."

"This firm has been instructed to explore all reasonable settlement offers to resolve these claims before they escalate further," the letters state, giving a June 12, 7 p.m. deadline to the recipients.

The letters end with the salutation, "Namaste."