​Conor McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, is speaking out in the wake of his fighter’s disastrous return at UFC 329, where the Irish superstar blew out his knee just seconds into the bout with Max Holloway. McGregor, never one to ease into competition, cranked up the intensity for his first fight in five years. The moment the bell rang, “The Notorious” went for a running switch kick. The strike missed, and it appeared his right knee gave way from the awkward landing. He tried to continue, but the knee buckled repeatedly as the action continued, until the referee halted the contest.
After five years of fevered anticipation for McGregor’s comeback, the fight lasted just a little over a minute. “Devastated,” Kavanagh wrote on Facebook in the hours following the loss. “That opening jump switch kick was drilled daily for months, multiple times in warm up. Never an issue. Knee went when he threw the very first kick.” He added, “Doesn’t get any worse than this. Looking forward to seeing my family in a few days.”
There had been speculation that McGregor might have carried a pre-existing knee injury into UFC 329, but both he and Kavanagh have insisted that his condition was top notch entering the fight at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night. While there is some video of McGregor wobbling as he removed his shoes cageside and perhaps footage of him stumbling during warm-ups, there is also a significant amount of footage showing him backstage at UFC 329 moving around with notable dynamism on the leg that would become compromised—throwing kicks and jumping as he prepared for the clash.
Kavanagh has been accused in the past of portraying McGregor’s camps as flawless when the reality involved skipped sessions and parties, yet he has also acknowledged when pre-existing injuries have contributed to setbacks. After McGregor shattered his leg against Dustin Poirier, Kavanagh disclosed that doctors had found micro-fractures in the Irish star’s femur and advised him against competing. In the Poirier rematch, fans received a full five minutes of hard-fought action to cling to; UFC 329’s main event, in contrast, ended before it truly began, leaving fans feeling shortchanged. Some observers suggest admitting a serious injury status so late might not sit well with fans who bought tickets or who had staked sizable bets on McGregor, complicating perceptions of the fight’s outcome and the circumstances surrounding the sudden finish.