Conor McGregor’s UFC return couldn’t have been much more of a humiliation after tearing his ACL seconds into his showdown with Max Holloway but even after sustaining such a bad injury, he was desperate for the show to go on.
Fighting for the first time in over five years, McGregor launched himself across the ring with a flying left roundhouse kick when the match started, only to land awkwardly on his right knee.
The Irishman, 37, was clearly hurt and the fight was eventually called by referee Mike Beltran after just 69 seconds at UFC 329 in Las Vegas. McGregor now faces a long road to return – and that’s if he even has it in him at all to mount another comeback.
But his opponent Holloway revealed that for a few fleeting seconds inside the octagon, McGregor was insistent that he was still able to fight on with one leg.
Speaking after one of the easiest fights of his career, Holloway told Paramount+: ‘The referee said thanks for pushing him (to end the fight) because it is a hard spot. And Conor is crazy.
‘Conor is like ‘fight! fight!’ and I was like ‘you’re f***ing crazy, bro’. For the first one, when he first fell down, he was like “fight! fight! We’re good!”. And then he went down a second time I could just tell. His whole demeanour changed.
Conor McGregor, 37, appeared to tear his ACL seconds into his comeback UFC fight
McGregor landed awkwardly trying to catch Max Holloway with a flying left roundhouse kick
Holloway says McGregor was initially screaming for the fight to go on despite his major injury
‘I had him weak in the knees, what can I say? I’m just praying for the guy, you know? All jokes aside, as a human being, even when I was in there I was saying to the referee “yo, this guy is done.”‘
Speaking later at his post-fight press conference, Holloway added: ‘He brought his kids to the fight, come on. I’m not trying to beat up a wounded dog.’
McGregor, meanwhile, has said he is in a ‘dark’ place in the aftermath of such an embarrassment.
He took to X to dismiss rumors he headed into the fight with an injury, writing: ‘My head gasket is gone. Destroyed.
‘I had no injury / injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight.
‘This came out of nowhere. I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.’
Asked if there may have been an existing injury, UFC President Dana White said there were no signs of it Friday at the ceremonial weigh-in.
‘Five years off in this sport is rough,’ White said. ‘We’re assuming a blown ACL. That’s what I assumed when I saw it, and that’s what the doctors think, too.’
McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, added on Facebook: ‘Devastated. That Opening jump switch kick was drilled daily for months, multiple times in warm up.
‘Never an issue. Knee went when he thru the very first kick. Doesn’t get any worse than this.’
