Insiders Reveal Why Dee Devlin Stays with Conor McGregor Amid Rape Accusations and Infidelity

Dee Devlin – the fiancee of the self-styled ‘Notorious’ Conor McGregor – could have chosen any number of ways to respond to the latest jaw-dropping revelations about her man.

But keeping a dignified silence was never going to be one of them.

The internationally renowned mixed martial arts fighter and his girlfriend – like countless others in this social media age – live their lives through the camera and video lens. So, of course, Ms Devlin, 37, took to Instagram.

Might what she posted in the emotionally charged aftermath of McGregor’s most recent indiscretion – he was seen kissing a bikini-clad brunette on a Florida beach last weekend just hours before news broke that he had sent a US female rap artist unsolicited nude photographs of himself – have revealed a rare truth about their relationship amid the self-promotion?

Next to a picture of her bare-chested partner, she shared a heart-eyes emoji, before adding darkly – ‘My monster’.

It’s an interesting choice of words for someone who is supposed to be his unquestioning rock. Hard to believe, in the circumstances, that Ms Devlin, who has four children with the Irishman, 37, was simply referring to the scandal-prone McGregor’s physical prowess.

The reaction from online observers was telling: ‘She’s terrified,’ wrote one. ‘I feel really sorry for her, she must be dying inside,’ said another. ‘Monster? She’s obviously under no illusions about him then,’ added someone else.

All this is at odds with the narrative of idyllic family life the couple paint on Instagram: holiday snaps in sunny destinations, trick-or-treating with their kids, date nights enjoying their own company.

Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin attend Cannes film festival

It’s perhaps also worth remembering that five years on from their engagement, the couple – both Catholics, whose son Rian was baptised at the Vatican – have still not got married. In fact, two recurring themes on McGregor’s CV do not fit easily into the social media storyline.

One is his propensity for violence outside the Octagon – the eight-sided cage in which MMA bouts are fought – including punching a punter for refusing a shot of his whiskey Proper No. Twelve (he has now sold his majority stake in the brand), along with his connections to the Kinahans, Ireland’s most feared crime family.

His pub, The Black Forge, lies in the Dublin 12 postcode – the traditional heartland of the Kinahans, who control much of the world’s cocaine imports into Europe and were once embroiled in a bloody turf war with a rival gang which resulted in up to 20 murders.

Earlier this month, eight members of the cartel were jailed for their part in trying to smuggle 2.2tonnes of cocaine worth £132m into the US.

McGregor grew up in the same suburb of Drimnagh. He knows many of the gangsters who patronise his watering hole.

The other more disturbing thread is his toxic masculinity which goes beyond the sleazy, clickbait disclosures (involving nude selfies and the like) of the past week or so.

In November, a civil jury ruled that McGregor was liable for the assault of Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. Ms Hand, a former hairdresser, claimed he raped her at a drink and cocaine-fuelled party.

Less well known is the fact that he has also been accused of two other assaults on women, including an ongoing case of sexual assault in the US. He is also facing possible perjury charges arising from the case involving Ms Hand.

McGregor was caught kissing a mystery woman last week while on a lads holiday

So could any relationship survive these allegations in any meaningful way?

It is a question which, despite Ms Devlin’s seemingly unwavering backing for McGregor, is now being pondered in the Irish Press. ‘Is Devlin the loyal anchor or just another casualty?’ asked one columnist recently.

Either way, Ms Devlin’s ‘loyalty’ – playing the part of the enthusiastically supportive partner who believes McGregor is the victim of lies and stitch-ups by a string of women – has come at considerable personal cost.

McGregor still enjoys a cult following at home and abroad and is regularly seen cruising around Dublin in his £280,000 Rolls-Royce Ghost, with his chosen moniker ‘The Notorious’ emblazoned along the side.

In March, he was invited to the Oval Office to meet Donald Trump on St Patrick’s Day and there are also plans to stage an MMA fight on the White House grounds to celebrate America’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. Last week, McGregor posted on X that he would be ‘honoured’ to be involved.

But while he remains popular on social media, Ms Devlin has been vilified – particularly by other women – for standing by him and has been cruelly dubbed a ‘gold digger or a doormat’.

Someone familiar with her situation said: ‘We are being told to believe that this is a happy, loving relationship behind all the headlines. I think a lot of things clearly point to the fact that she is not.

‘From early on in the relationship, she has had a great deal to cope with. I would be very concerned with how much she can take.’ The contrast with the romance of the couple’s early years could not be more stark.

McGregor has amassed an estimated fortune in excess of £160million from prize money in America’s Ultimate Fighting Championship 

They met in a Dublin nightclub when they were teenagers. McGregor was training to be a plumber, while Ms Devlin was working at the venue and the attraction was instant.

The pair, from neighbouring districts of the city (he is from Crumlin, she is from Walkinstown), began seeing each other almost immediately.

When McGregor quit his apprenticeship to pursue a career in MMA, she looked after him, packing his gym bag before a fight and cooking for him to make sure he ate properly because he had problems with his weight.

Their son Conor Jr was born in 2017, followed by daughter Croai in 2019, son Rian in 2021 and Mack in 2023. They announced their engagement in 2020, by which time McGregor had achieved global superstardom.

Ms Devlin showed off her ring on Instagram. It was a large, emerald-cut diamond number reported to be worth £100,000.

‘My wedding is going to be extravagant, that’s for damn sure,’ McGregor said at the time. ‘We are gonna have the best of the best, and then more to the best.

‘We have got to find the location; it’s going to be Ireland, I’m gonna get married in the Emerald Isle, and then figure it out, so it’s a big process. Let’s see what happens, I am ready for it all.’ But five years on, there is no location, no spread in Hello! magazine and no wedding – only more allegations.

A close family friend of Ms Devlin, a former waitress and model, said: ‘It’s impossible not to like Dee. She’s your typical girl next door. She is a very bubbly person and she always puts a positive spin on things.

‘I believe she truly does love Conor. But what woman wouldn’t be humiliated by his behaviour. It has not been easy for her.’

The couple live in a mansion in County Kildare in the grounds of The K Club resort, famous for hosting the Ryder Cup in 2006.

McGregor has amassed an estimated fortune in excess of £160million from prize money in America’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), along with personal endorsements, sponsorship deals and his own business interests outside the ‘cage’.

His swagger and so-called trash-talking about his opponents (‘We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over,’) have led to him being compared to legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who he cites as being one of his early inspirations. But a more accurate, less flattering analogy is Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion who was jailed for raping a beauty queen in 1992.

Aside from allegations of lewd behaviour and ‘other’ women, it has been a bad month all round for McGregor, who has ambitions – believe it or not – to stand in Ireland’s presidential election in the autumn. This now appears to have derailed because he has not received the political support necessary to endorse his candidacy.

Candidates must garner the support of 20 members of the Oireachtas – representatives in Ireland’s lower and upper houses of parliament, or the backing of four of Ireland’s local authorities in order to stand.

There has also been a sensational twist in the civil rape case which ended with Ms Hand, 36, being awarded damages of 248,600 euros (£206,000).

McGregor, who claimed the sex between them was consensual, appealed and his legal team had promised ‘new evidence’ from two witnesses who were said to have signed sworn affidavits that they saw Ms Hand’s former partner attack her on the night.

This, they said, explained why she was found to be covered in bruises the following day and taken by ambulance to hospital. But earlier this month, the legal challenge was abandoned after the ‘witnesses’ withdrew their statements.

Two weeks ago, a judge referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The upshot is that McGregor could now face a charge of perjury which carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years or a maximum fine of 100,000 euros (more than £86,000).

It’s little wonder that, even before the latest embarrassing setback, Ms Devlin looked utterly bereft when leaving the courthouse with McGregor back in November – someone who was either a rapist or an adulterer.

Ms Hand, who was called a liar – first at the civil trial, then at the appeal hearing – was unavailable for comment. She moved out of D12 after men in balaclavas broke into her house, smashed the windows and stabbed her boyfriend in June last year after she took McGregor to court.

Another woman, Samantha Murphy, 40, had a brick thrown through her window and her car torched after she too filed a civil claim against McGregor in 2023 which was later dropped.

Ms Murphy claimed she was beaten up on McGregor’s yacht which was anchored off the Spanish island of Formentera. She says she was left with a broken arm and was forced to jump into the sea to escape from him. McGregor denies all the accusations. Nor has there been any evidence that he is – or ever has been – involved in organised crime. However, he moves in some of the same circles as those who do and makes no secret of it.

Only last month, he was pictured partying with the son of a Kinahan gang boss in Ibiza who had recently been released from prison for his role in sourcing firearms for another cartel member.

And the accusations about McGregor’s behaviour keep on coming. He is facing a civil lawsuit in the US, filed against him in January, from a senior Wall Street banker who claims he sexually assaulted her after an NBA basketball game in Florida in 2023.

McGregor is alleged to have been under the influence of intoxicants and ‘out of control’ when the woman said he attacked her in a bathroom at the Kaseya Centre in Miami. In filed court papers, her attorney says: ‘My client has thought long and hard about the decision to pursue this civil case and is fearful of the effect it might have on her job on Wall Street. Nonetheless, her main goal in filing this suit is to raise awareness and encourage others to report sexual abuse.’

The women decided on this course of action, he said, because prosecutors decided not to pursue criminal charges. The irony is that in the middle of this increasingly sordid saga, it is Dee Devlin and not Conor

McGregor who is attracting most of the flak.

Additional reporting: Nicola Byrne