The return of Conor McGregor for UFC 329 on Saturday night had historic hype, but his bout with Max Holloway produced one of the most disappointing finishes to a UFC event in the company’s history.
McGregor suffered a knee injury in the opening minute and that led to a stoppage of the bout just one minute and five seconds into it and a victory for Holloway.
After the fight was over, many wondered if McGregor had actually injured himself before getting into the Octagon to square off with Holloway.
UFC president and CEO Dana White addressed the theory, and more specifically the theory that McGregor was hurt before the night of the event and didn’t disclose it.
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White, who finished his press conference before returning to broach the subject, pointed to the fact that so many people saw the face-off between McGregor and Holloway before the fight, yet nobody noticed anything wrong with him then.
White believes that’s proof McGregor was healthy, although he wouldn’t completely rule out the theory of a pre-existing injury.
“So, when we were talking about the guy over here earlier asking about there being a pre-injury, just on my accounts, the face-off that day is at 80 million views,” White said. “If there was a pre-existing injury, somebody would have noticed it.”
“(McGregor) ran right at (Holloway). I don’t think there was. Anything is possible but he sure didn’t look like it. And for 80 million (views) just on my accounts, that number’s got to be massive and nobody noticed anything so, there you go,” White added.
We wouldn’t say that’s the best piece of evidence to prove McGregor wasn’t injured before the fight.
That said, a video from the locker room before McGregor walked out dispels the idea he wasn’t 100% in the lead up to the fight.
Conor McGregor locker room video
There’s video of Conor McGregor warming up in the locker room before the fight and he showed zero signs of having an injury.
McGregor looked spry and fired off some kicks in the video and it doesn’t appear he’s hindered at all.
McGregor did stumble a bit while taking his sneakers off before entering the Octagon, which some believe was when the injury occurred, but the UFC superstar clearly put full weight on his right knee after the stumble and even bounced a few times for good measure.
McGregor fell twice in the opening minute of the fight while landing following kicks and it appeared he might have landed awkwardly on his knee.
We obviously cannot say for sure, but it’s possible the injury occurred then.
The former UFC champion took to X and stated that he “had no injury/injuries going into the fight.”
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“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,” McGregor added.
McGregor’s exact injury isn’t know as of this writing.
Regardless of his injury, the result of McGregor-Holloway 2 will go down as one of the most disappointing in UFC history.
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