Conor McGregor has spoken for the first time after suffering another devastating injury at UFC 329, saying he is “beyond dark” and “can only describe it as hell”.
The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was making his long-awaited return to the octagon after a five-year absence in Saturday night’s main event against Max Holloway in Las Vegas.
However, the fight was waved off after only 69 seconds as the result of McGregor sustaining a serious-looking injury to his right knee as he landed awkwardly following an attempted flying left kick.
Holloway was awarded the technical victory, with UFC chief Dana White subsequently revealing fears that McGregor had injured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Following a video that circulated widely on social media and was also shared by the television broadcast team of him looking unsteady as he kicked off his shoes beforehand, a devastated McGregor categorically denied any suggestion that he was already injured going into the fight.
It is the second time in successive bouts that McGregor has suffered a serious early injury to curtail his chances, following the gruesome leg break he sustained during the first round of his trilogy fight against rival Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
Given that he turns 38 next week and had already been out of the octagon for five years, another extended lay-off will lead to inevitable doubts and questions over McGregor’s future in the sport where he was once the biggest name and most lucrative draw.
My head gasket is gone. Destroyed. I had no injury / injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere. I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 12, 2026
“My head gasket is gone,” McGregor wrote on X. “Destroyed.
“I had no injury / injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere.
“I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.”
Addressing McGregor’s latest injury in his post-UFC 329 press conference, White said: “I was expecting at least a one-round war.
“Who knew what Conor was capable of as far as cardio or whatever else after a five-year lay-off. We’re assuming [it is a] blown ACL.
“I’m no doctor, but that’s what I figured when I saw it and doctors think the same thing too.”
