Conor McGregor’s return ended almost as fast as it began at UFC 329, and UFC CEO Dana White says the early read from doctors is a blown ACL.
McGregor went down seconds into his main event against Max Holloway on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and the fight was waved off 1:09 into the first round. Speaking at the UFC 329 post-fight news conference, White said he had not spoken to McGregor yet but shared what the medical team suspects.
“Listen, everybody who knows anything about the fight business, and it’s been a big topic of discussion up to this fight: five years off in this sport is rough,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters.
On the injury itself, White didn’t hedge.
“We’re assuming blown ACL. I’m no doctor, but that’s what I figured when I saw it. Doctors think the same thing, too,” White said.
The injury appeared to come right out of the gate, as McGregor leaped for a flying kick to open the fight and crumpled to the canvas.
White also shut down any suggestion that McGregor walked in already hurt, pointing to how closely the entire buildup was watched. He noted the pre-fight faceoff pulled more than 44 million views in 24 hours.
“The doctors check them out before the fight, and he looked damn good at the press conference, and he looked fine at the weigh-ins,” White said. “Somebody would’ve seen something. If somebody saw something, they didn’t say it, which is impossible. Nobody would do that.”
As for what comes next for McGregor, White wasn’t doing any matchmaking on fight night.
