Fox News Flash top sports headlines for June 18
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Conor McGregor was seen in New York City signing autographs for fans days after rape allegations surfaced from an incident inside a Kaseya Center bathroom during a Miami Heat game.
McGregor was spotted at The Peninsula on Fifth Avenue Saturday night, where the UFC star was signing autographs for fans waiting outside.
Dressed head to toe in a Gucci sweatsuit, McGregor obliged with those asking for his John Hancock before heading out into the city. They were even there when he returned.
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Conor McGregor on June 17, 2023, in Manhattan. (Robert Kamau/GC Images)
According to the New York Post, his security detail was loading "superhero-themed toys and balloons" into his car, indicating that he could have been heading to a children’s birthday.
Up to this point, McGregor had been keeping a low profile following allegations from a woman who said she had been raped on June 10 at the Miami Heat-Denver Nuggets Game 4 of the NBA Finals game, which McGregor was seen attending.
Ariel Mitchell, the woman’s lawyer, claims that security separated the woman from her friends and forced her into a bathroom where McGregor was allegedly waiting, per the New York Post.
CONOR MCGREGOR SEEN WITH ACCUSER IN CLUB AFTER ALLEGED RAPE
A video also surfaced later showing McGregor and the victim at a club following the game. The woman and McGregor were seen talking and then he leaves the scene.
Mitchell told TMZ Sports that the video showed the two "visibly awkwardly interacting with each other."
"My client has always stated that there would be video of before and after, and in those videos she emphasized that the difference in the interactions between them would be visibly noticeable," Mitchell said. "This again is another video that supports what my client has been saying and supports what she told the police since the inception of this incident."
On the other hand, McGregor’s lawyer, Barbara R. Llanes, said this about the video: "While the claimant’s story has changed yet again, our account of the evening has never changed. This video only reinforces our position. We look forward to the swift conclusion of the investigation."
Conor McGregor was spotted at The Peninsula on Fifth Avenue Saturday night, where the UFC star was signing autographs for fans waiting outside. (Robert Kamau/GC Images)
A separate TMZ video was revealed this past Friday showing McGregor escorting the woman to the bathroom by the hand. There were several people standing by the door, which had been shut.
Mitchell, who said the two were together at a club inside the arena before the incident occurred in the bathroom, said her client was under the impression she was leaving the arena when a man in a Denver Nuggets jersey told her, "Conor told me to come get you."
After seeing the video with McGregor ushering her out, Mitchell said her client "did not even recall who led her into the restroom until seeing this video."
"After the video was released by TMZ, the claimant’s lawyer now has changed her story," Llanes said. "Mr. McGregor welcomes the investigation, which he firmly believes will show the claims against him are false. After not responding to the demand for money made by claimant’s counsel, she turned to the media to apply pressure. This is no more than a shakedown."
Mitchell told Fox News Digital that these accusations were "false" and there is no attempted "shakedown."
"Mr. McGregor‘s team can say this is a shakedown, these allegations are false, but the video is clear. A soon-to-be married man with a fourth baby on the way is himself leading a woman he doesn’t know and not his pregnant fiancée into the bathroom," Mitchell said.
McGregor’s fiancee, Dee Devlin, is pregnant with their fourth child.
Conor McGregor is expected to make his UFC return later this year. (Robert Kamau/GC Images)
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The Heat and NBA are both aware of the allegations, while Miami police told ESPN an investigation began after a report was filed on Sunday.
McGregor is expected to make his UFC return later this year, with a fight to be scheduled against fan-favorite Michael Chandler.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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