Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor “actually raped” a woman who suffered a “violent and brutal assault” at his hands, jurors at the High Court in Dublin have been told.

The woman claims civil damages the irish fighter and another man, James Lawrence, who alleges she was sexually assaulted in December 2018.

When jurors were sworn in on Tuesday, Judge Alexander Owens told them that the men were alleged to have “in fact raped her.”

But the lawyers of the fighter, nicknamed “notorious”, accused her of attempted “extortion.”

McGregor and the plaintiff knew each other, had mutual friends and had occasionally been in contact on social media, said John Gordon SC, the woman’s lawyer.

She was “no angel,” Gordon said, and after going out with friends in the city the night of the alleged incident, she contacted the wrestler who picked her and a friend up in his car.

The trio shared a bag of cocaine as their driver took them around housing estates before going to the home of Mr Lawrence, who joined them in the car and drove to the Beacon Hotel.

The court was told the group, who rented a penthouse suite, were drinking and laughing.

At one point, the MMA star walked into a bedroom and motioned for the woman to join him.

The victim alleges that McGregor pinned her to the bed

The court was told McGregor “approached her” but she did not want to have sex with him because she was on her period.

Gordon told the court she alleged McGregor pinned her to the bed and she was “completely incapable” of pushing him away.

He said jurors “will see photographs of her hands and wrists that are black and blue. They will see that her left breast has a bloody scratch. The scratch is there because she was wearing a watch and had her hands up to protect herself.” He was pressed and the clock marked his chest.

“Mr McGregor then turns her around, closes her arm and lifts her by the neck. She can’t breathe. And he does it again.

“The third time he does it, she gives up. She can’t hold out any longer. In the course of this, he says, ‘Now you know what it was like to be in (the MMA fight venue) the octagon when I fell.’ thrice.

“At that point she was completely terrified. She submitted to what was about to happen, which was a violent and cruel assault.”

It is later alleged that she had sexual relations with Mr Lawrence, but Mr Gordon said he has no recollection of such an event taking place.

Woman taken by ambulance to hospital

After returning home and visiting her mother, who called 999, the woman was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

The court was told she was shaking and in pain as she was taken to hospital.

Gordon said: “To this, Mr McGregor will tell you that it was a consensual encounter, that they were just having fun and a bit of rough sex. That is his answer.”

The defense stated in the evidence booklet that she had several opportunities to complain to people about how she was treated, but she did not do so.

She is involved in an extortion attempt, the court heard. McGregor and Lawrence deny any wrongdoing.

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Previously, Judge Owens advised jurors that they should judge the case based on the facts and not become their own “private detective” by conducting an independent investigation.

He warned jurors not to discuss the case with their families when they returned home at night and not to ask their opinions on the evidence.

McGregor, dressed in a white shirt and blue suit, was in court when the case, which is expected to last about two weeks, began.