Conor McGregor’s Long-Awaited UFC Comeback Ends In Humiliating 69 Seconds

by Erik MeersJuly 12, 2026, 12:05 pm >

Conor McGregor‘s five-year road back to the Octagon lasted barely more than a minute. The Irish former two-division champion suffered a serious right knee injury just seconds into his UFC 329 main event rematch against Max Holloway on Saturday night in Las Vegas, ending the fight before it had really begun.

McGregor, 37, opened the bout by charging at Holloway with a jumping kick. He missed his target, but the way he landed appeared to buckle his knee. He slipped to the canvas repeatedly over the next several seconds, grimacing and unable to put weight on the leg, before referee Mike Beltran waved off the contest at the 69-second mark. Holloway was awarded a TKO victory.

UFC CEO Dana White said at the post-fight press conference that promotion doctors suspect McGregor tore his ACL, though the diagnosis has not been officially confirmed. White admitted he’d expected a longer fight, saying he didn’t know what McGregor had left in the tank after such a long layoff.

Less than two hours after leaving T-Mobile Arena, McGregor addressed the injury directly on social media, writing that he’d had no issues heading into the bout and had been training normally throughout camp. He called the moment “hell” and pushed back hard against online speculation that he had entered the cage already injured, insisting he felt calm and fully ready before the opening bell. He vowed to return.

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Holloway, who was competing at welterweight for the first time in his career, was gracious in victory. He said he found himself telling the referee mid-fight that McGregor was clearly hurt and that the bout needed to be stopped.

The result adds another setback to what has been a turbulent stretch for McGregor outside the cage. He hadn’t fought since 2021, sidelined first by a broken leg and then by a string of legal issues, including a 2024 civil trial in which a jury found him liable for sexual assault — a verdict he has said he intends to appeal. A planned comeback fight in 2024 against Michael Chandler also fell apart due to a toe injury.

With McGregor now 1-3 in his last four fights and facing a lengthy recovery from a potential ACL tear, it remains unclear whether — or when — fans will see “The Notorious” back in the Octagon again.