Conor McGregor is facing the first signs of backlash after he lost a civil trial a few days ago. The UFC superstar was found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting Nikita Hand and ordered to pay about $260k in damages. While this was not a criminal trial and the Irishman is thus not facing any prison time, it has dealt a serious blow to his brand.

The clearest sign of this came after the video game company IO Interactive decided to remove McGregor from their smash-hit game Hitman: World of Assassination, the company announced on social media.

“In light of the recent court ruling regarding Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease its collaboration with the athlete, effective immediately. We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications. Consequently, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr. McGregor from our storefronts starting today,” a tweet from the official ‘Hitman’ account read.

The Irishman was part of a downloadable content (DLC) package for the game, where the player, playing as the assassin, Agent 47, was entrusted to kill the video game version of McGregor. Now, however, the DLC will no longer be available for new players. Whether this will affect the players who have already bought the DLC remains unknown, but it does seem unlikely.

After all, the company would almost definitely be criticized if it chose to yank the DLC from players who have already paid for it. IO Interactive may choose to do so eventually and refund the players for it, but at the moment, it seems those who have this DLC could continue playing it. But McGregor is as defiant as ever and already taking steps to have the court decision overturned.

Conor McGregor promises to appeal the civil trial judgment

Conor McGregor predictably is not happy with the civil case. The Irishman has announced that he would be appealing the verdict since he feels the jury did not do their job properly in deciding the case. Of course, this process will take some time, and the Dubliner will have to bear the albatross across his neck until his appeal is adjudicated, and may see more companies cut ties with him in the coming days. If that is, the verdict is overturned by a higher court, which very well remains to be seen.

“I will be appealing today’s decision. The judge’s instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages. I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed. I am with my family now, focused on my future. Thank you to all my support worldwide,” ‘Mac’ wrote in a tweet.

Of course, many are wondering what effect this would have on McGregor’s UFC career. And the answer to that? Probably no effect at all. After all, the UFC is not one to really penalize or treat its fighters differently because of their legal troubles. Jon Jones and his history of being on the wrong side of the law being the perfect example.

The bombastic Dubliner is looking to make his UFC comeback after three years of inactivity sometime next year. But his losing the civil trial is unlikely to make Dana White and co. any more or less hesitant to offer him a fight and promote him to the best of their abilities.

What do you think about IO Interactive cutting ties with Conor McGregor?