Conor McGregor’s career is over.
He might not know it or want to admit it, but one of the biggest stars that the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotional machine ever made saw a historically underwhelming conclusion to his career in just one minute and nine seconds at UFC 329.
The brash Irishman had been away from the octagon for almost five years exactly, prompting questions about if he could truly make a comeback from the devastating injury that he suffered the last time fans saw in compete in the cage, snapping his left leg in the closing moments of the first round of a bout against Dustin Poirier in 2021. It was the same brutal tibia and fibula break that sidelined, and ultimately cut the careers short of both former middleweight champions, Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman respectively. Anderson Silva was arguably the most dominate fighter in the history of the sport during his prime, and Weidman was much more well-rounded than McGregor, who made a career with a combination of sharp strikes and charismatic mic skills. Silva could never return to top form after the same injury. Weidman was never close to the level that he was at his peak, when he shocked the world to dethrone the previously mentioned Silva for the 185 LBS belt.
The odds, with the sports books that had Conor as a 3-to-1 underdog for his return fight, literally said he wasn’t going to be back to make a successful comeback from the gruesome injury. Still, the hype machine was back around the Dublin native, despite the sexual assault accusations and trial that made him persona non grata in his home country, and the American public anticipated his return. He was found liable of sexual assault in civil case in Dublin and lost the subsequent appeal. The victim was awarded $250,000 and the backlash from the ruling saw McGregor lose numerous sponsorships, as well as endorsement deals in Ireland. However, the MMA fans in the United States were willing to pay major cash to be in the building when he squared off with Max Holloway, a rematch from their original bout that Conor won via decision in 2013. The cheapest ticket ahead of he UFC 329 pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was listed at $1,000 on the secondary market.
As I wrote in an article about the event earlier this week, Max Holloway wasn’t a tomato can brought in to allow Conor an easy fight. Holloway fought against top competition the majority of his UFC career, and even the bouts that he lost, he was always competitive. Furthermore, and this is mostly just good matchmaking since the fight business is still the entertainment business, Holloway is willing to brawl to put on a good show for the audience. In theory, that could’ve catered to McGregor’s style.
I wrote that I’d give Conor one, or at most, two rounds to win the fight. Even before the leg break, he was known for struggling with cardio, a flaw in his game that was exposed during the Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov fights. Don’t get me wrong, McGregor is a dangerous striker, but hasn’t fared well in the championship rounds.
As it turned out, his chance might’ve been slim before he entered the octagon on Saturday night.
Within the first thirty seconds, Conor threw two sloppy jumping kicks, landing awkwardly both times. He fell down twice, prompting Holloway to land a few punches on each occasion. At one point, Holloway motioned something to the referee, but was told to continue the fight. After Holloway let McGregor get back to his feet, a few seconds later, Conor’s knee buckled, prompting the official to stop the fight just over a minute into the opening round. There was barely any action, but a tremendous amount of confusion. A replay showed that Conor injured his right knee when he landed during one of the jumping kicks that were thrown seconds after the start of the contest. McGregor was compromised within the first ten seconds of the pay-per-view main event.
After the stoppage, a chorus of boos from the crowd provided McGregor’s exit music, a stark contrast to the electric atmosphere of just minutes earlier when smoke filled the octagon for the prelude of “Foggy Dew” before the Notorious BIG track signaled his entrance to the arena. Conor left the cage without doing the post-fight interview, and video surfaced online shortly after the pay-per-view went off the air of Conor, still in his fight gear, limping out of the building.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC president, Dana White speculated that it was an ACL tear, and the initial report from the ringside doctors agreed with that assessment, but the severity of the injury still had to be confirmed with an MRI. When Max Holloway was interviewed after the contest, he mentioned the possibility of a trilogy fight, but I have to be honest, I sincerely think that Conor McGregor doesn’t have the ability to be a competitive fighter again, nor would there be much of a demand to see him fight again after such a massive letdown. Keep in mind, Conor snapped his leg the last time that fans saw him compete, and this time he suffered a non-contact injury. Is there any reason to honestly believe that he’s going to get back to the dynamic striker that he was at the peak of his popularity?
This was the comeback, this was the barometer to see what he had left in the tank and he collapsed within seconds. Granted, at 37, Conor would theoretically have at least a few more competitive years left in his career, but again, the brutal leg injury, not to mention the knee injury suffered on Saturday, simply limited his agility and strength after such a physical toll on the body. In the confusing aftermath, specifically with how woefully underwhelming the main event was, there was a replay shown of Conor taking his shoes off prior to entering the cage, prompting speculation that maybe he tweaked his knee before the opening bell. Regardless of if it happened when he was preparing to walk into the octagon or from the attempted flying kick, the result is the same, a non-contact injured ended his comeback in literally just a minute of competition.
The reason that I say that his career is over is simple, it took years for him to agree to fight again. Remember when he was originally slated to return against Michael Chandler after a stint as coaches on a season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2023? Conor didn’t enter the testing pool to be eligible to fight so the bout was scrapped. Prior to this bout, there was some controversy about when McGregor missed scheduled drug tests to maintain his eligibility to fight in 2024 and was suspended for 18 months. The suspension was moot since he had no actual plans to fight anyway, but the point is, the chances that he will realistically be prepared to fight again are minimal.
In some ways, this is a scenario where you reap what you sow.
UFC management catered to Conor to give him to promotional push to make him the top star in the company. He took that hype and made $100 to fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match. It took them years to get him to agree to fight again, and the “opportunity cost” of the McGregor push was that fighters that could’ve made themselves stars in two different divisions didn’t get the chance to do so. Instead of a top draw for the UFC, Conor made more headlines for arrests, accusations, and the reasons that he didn’t fight. In many respects, it’s very similar to the Jon Jones situation, when the organization looked the other way in hopes that he would draw a buy rate, only for him to abruptly retire without defending the heavyweight title last year.
Reportedly, Conor was guaranteed a staggering $15 million for the one minute and nine seconds in the octagon, which is exponentially more cash that the $3 million that Max Holloway was paid. Assuming that McGregor can avoid any more legal trouble, and doesn’t waste his wealth, he might be able to retire. If nothing else, there’s no way that he can demand that type of payday from the UFC again, especially because given the finish of the UFC 329 main event, there’s not going to be nearly the same demand to see him compete again. Aside from the potential end of Conor’s career, the biggest takeaway from this situation is that the UFC doesn’t currently have a top star that can be used as a mainstream draw, particularly since Tom Aspinall is still sidelined with a serious eye injury so it will be interesting to see what bouts management books next to give more fights a chance to make themselves stars for the company.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
