The appeal process continues to unfold for Conor McGregor after earlier this year he was found liable for a 2018 sexual assault of Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel room – but now there's an additional twist, according to multiple reports.

Tuesday, during an appeal hearing, McGregor's legal team withdrew an evidence application, which included sworn affidavits from neighbors, Samantha O'Reilly and Steven Cummins, who said they saw Hand in a physical altercation with her partner hours prior to her encounter with McGregor. The gist of the claim was to say bruising found on Hand was not from McGregor.

Hand denied such an event ever took place. Her counsel John Gordon said his client deserved an apology, following the withdrawal.

McGregor's attorney Mark Mullholand claimed the withdrawal came due to lack of corroboration – which confused the three judges presiding over the appeal hearing.

Upon request from Hand's lawyers, the Court of Appeal is to refer papers regarding the withdrawal to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who could consider the matter for perjury.

McGregor and his legal team would've had to prove the evidence was existent at the time of the trial but that it was unobtainable.

The "new" evidence was only one of three bases of McGregor's appeal. The first of the other two was that the issue paper at the conclusion of trial asked the jury whether McGregor "assaulted" Hand, rather than "sexually assaulted." Hand's legal team did not dispute this, but said the jury was still aware of what the trial was about and pointed out that McGregor's legal team also approve the issue paper at the time.

The second basis, was the court's decision to allow as evidence McGregor's repeated "no comment" to initial police questioning. McGregor's team claimed it was not adequately explained to the jury that silence did not equate to evidence of liability. Hand's legal team disputed this.

McGregor's co-defendant, James Lawrence, also appealed Wednesday. Lawrence was found not guilty of sexually assaulting Hand the same night the same night as the McGregor incident. However, Lawrence took exception with the court's decision to not award him any costs.

Lawrence's legal team claimed this was done on the basis of an unproven assumption Lawrence and McGregor concocted a story to get themselves both off the hook. Hand's counsel Ray Boland argued Lawrence did not incur costs, as McGregor indicated he paid for Lawrence's legal fees. He also pointed out how McGregor and Lawrence had the same legal team until midway through legal proceedings, and said he thought the switch to separate attorneys was done to create the appearance of distance.

The appeal hearing concluded Wednesday with a decision expected at a later date, though it's unclear exactly when.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Reports: Conor McGregor sexual assault appeal concludes – with a twist

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