​Conor McGregor’s comeback fight is scheduled for this Saturday at UFC 329 after a five-year layoff, and the anticipation surrounding his return has been building since his last appearance. Initially, the plan extended well before UFC 329, as McGregor was slated to meet The Ultimate Fighter 31 coach Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024. That plan was derailed by a toe injury that forced him out of the matchup, marking the first time in the former two-division champion’s UFC career that he’d pulled out of a fight. The cancellation was a gut punch to McGregor and his supporters, who were eager to witness his return following the leg break he suffered in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
In discussing the setback, McGregor’s long-time coach, John Kavanagh, took responsibility for the pre-UFC 303 injury that occurred during training. “I’ll say it more bluntly than [McGregor] will,” Kavanagh remarked. “I should have had the protective gear on both guys from the start. The beginning of it was a little rushed. It’s different when you’re sparring for sparring, and sparring for whatever they were, Embedded or Countdown, and it was a bit sort of haphazard. ‘What are we doing?’ ‘OK, you two move around for the cameras, but it’s also a spar.’ It just wasn’t done right.”
At the time, McGregor and his team didn’t fully grasp the severity of the injury, so McGregor pressed through the sparring session that served both his preparation and the UFC’s video content. He felt something nagging after his training partner blocked a kick, yet he continued to finish the session. “Look, I’ll put my hand up,” Kavanagh said. “I should have had all the gear on them and they didn’t, and he awkwardly caught Tristan’s elbow and that happened very early. That happened in the first minute or so of Round 1 and he kind of whispered to me in between the rounds that he felt his toe was broke. I’m trying to stop it and he insisted on doing the next four rounds, he did all five rounds, because you can kind of run on adrenaline a little bit. But yeah, it was nasty.”
The toe injury left McGregor with no option but to cancel the Chandler fight, and after months of speculation, a new opponent emerged: a rematch with former foe Max Holloway to headline UFC 329. As the date of the comeback approached, Kavanagh emphasized that this time around, precautions would be taken to protect McGregor’s health. “Sick,” Kavanagh said when reflecting on the foot injury that sidelined his fighter. “Really, really sick. … It was my fault. I’m not going to beat around the bush on it. Should have had the gear on them.” Since that incident, the team has proceeded with heightened caution during this training camp, aiming to avoid any niggles, bumps, or bruises and to present the best possible version of McGregor on fight night.
Looking ahead to the return, Kavanagh described the current camp as meticulous and controlled, with McGregor free of lingering issues and focused on delivering peak performance. The hope is that the lessons learned from the 2024 setback will translate into a safer, more decisive comeback for McGregor, allowing him to showcase the form fans have awaited for years. As UFC 329 draws near, the narrative centers on redemption, discipline, and the relentless pursuit of excellence that McGregor has long pursued inside the Octagon. And while some social media chatter may call out various rivals or “bum” opponents, the emphasis from McGregor’s camp remains on returning to top form and proving he can compete at the highest level once again.