LONDON (AP) — A woman who claimed mixed martial artist Conor McGregor “raped and brutally beat her” in a Dublin hotel penthouse was awarded nearly 250,000 euros ($257,000) on Friday ) by a civil jury in Ireland.

The woman said the attack on December 9, 2018 after a night of partying left her badly bruised and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

McGregor shook his head as the jury of eight women and four men returned the verdict after deliberating for around six hours at the High Court in Dublin. He was swarmed by cameras as he left court but did not comment.

McGregor testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said he fabricated the allegations after the two had consensual sex.

The woman’s voice and hands shook as she read a statement outside court, saying she would never forget what happened to her but would now be able to get on with her life. She thanked her family, partner, friends and all the supporters who reached out to her online, but especially her daughter.

“She has given me so much strength and courage over the last six years of this nightmare to keep moving forward for justice,” the woman said. “I want to show (her) and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who that person is, and justice will be served.”

Her lawyer told jurors that McGregor was angry about a fight he had lost in Las Vegas two months earlier and took it out on his client.

“He’s not a man, he’s a coward,” attorney John Gordon said in his closing argument. “A cunning coward and you should treat him for what he is.”

The woman had to take several breaks in her emotional testimony as she said McGregor threatened to kill her during the meeting.

A paramedic who examined the woman the next day testified that he had never seen anyone with that intensity of bruising.

McGregor choked her several times and later told her, “now you know how I felt in the octagon where I tapped three times,” referring to an Ultimate Fighting Championship when he had to concede defeat, she said.

She was afraid she would die and never see her daughter again.

“He let me go and I remember saying I was sorry because I felt like I had done something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again,” she said.

She said she then let him do whatever he wanted and had sex with her.

Police investigated the woman’s complaint, but prosecutors declined to press charges, saying there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely.

McGregor said the two had sex that was athletic and vigorous, but not rough. He said “she never said no or stopped” and testified that everything she said was a lie.

“It’s a total lie among many lies,” he said when asked about the suffocation allegation. “How could anyone think that I, as a proud person, would point out my shortcomings.”

McGregor’s lawyer told jurors he must put aside his animosity towards the fighter.

“You may have an active dislike of him, some of you may even hate him – there’s no point in pretending it could be otherwise,” said lawyer Remy Farrell. “I’m not asking you to invite him to Sunday brunch.”

The defense said the woman never told investigators McGregor threatened her life. They also showed surveillance video in court that they said appeared to show the woman kissing McGregor’s arm and hugging him after they left the hotel room. Farrell said she looked “happy, happy, happy.”

McGregor said that when he was first interviewed by police, he read them a prepared statement. On the advice of his lawyer, he refused to answer more than 100 follow-up questions.

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