FORMER MMA FIGHTER Conor McGregor has announced he won’t be seeking a nomination for the Irish presidency. 

McGregor had been scheduled to address Kildare and Dublin City councillors today to make his pitch to get on the ballot.

“Following careful reflection, and after consulting with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy from this presidential race,” McGregor said in a post on X overnight. 

“This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one at this moment in time.”

Earlier this year, former MMA fighter McGregor lost his appeal against a civil jury’s finding in favour of Dublin woman Nikita Hand, who accused him of rape.

Hand successfully sued McGregor in a civil court over an incident in which he was alleged to have “brutally raped and battered” her in a penthouse at a south Dublin hotel in December 2018.

Hand was awarded almost €250,000 in damages and McGregor was also ordered to pay about €1.3 million in legal costs following the November trial.

McGregor made multiple posts on social media in recent months saying he intended to run for the Áras. 

In his X post overnight McGregor claimed the system was “fixed” to ensure “only Establishment approved candidates may be selected on the ballot”.

A candidate needs the backing of either four councils or 20 members of the Oireachtas – TDs and senators – to get their name on the ballot for October’s election. 

Multiple candidates pursuing the council route are due to address councillors around the country today, including entrepreneur Gareth Sheridan and the the Aontú-backed barrister and campaigner Maria Steen.