Conor McGregor‘s homecoming was ruined just seconds into the fight when he landed wrong, damaging his leg, rendering himself unable to continue moments after the opening bell in the UFC 329 headliner.
The long layoff and subsequent injury led many to call for the Irishman’s retirement from the sport. Instead of laying down his gloves and moving on from a career that brought much success, ‘The Notorious’ is determined to fight his way back to full fitness and give the story of the greatest comeback in sports history a second chapter.
In the days following the incident, Conor McGregor provided an update about the severity of his injury. With rumors of a full ACL tear circulating, McGregor shared news with his fans.
“Update: It was ACL and meniscus. It is the same injury as the first [Max] Holloway fight, only this time the opposite leg. Quite shocking,” McGregor said. “I returned to competition within 9 months to fight Diego Brandao back then. With today’s regenerative medicine advancements and improved training methods, it is well within my realm to return by next summer.”
Update: It was acl and meniscus. It is the same injury as the first Holloway fight, only this time the opposite leg. Quite shocking. I returned to competition within 9 months to fight Diego Brandao back then. With today’s regenerative medicine advancements and improved training… pic.twitter.com/2Me14ayIgh
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 19, 2026
Conor McGregor has shown remarkable progress since being struck by injury. McGregor is already in the gym, doing seated leg extensions and putting in work on the rowing machine, despite suffering a suspected major affliction less than a month ago.
Brian Sutterer, a popular sports scientist, has weighed in on the discussion. Closely following the events that led to the injury and the miraculous feats McGregor has managed in such a short time, Sutterer doesn’t believe the injury is as bad as it’s being made out to be.
“Based on everything we’ve seen Conor posting amongst all the energy drink ads, I’m a little bit confused about the timeline and what else might be going on with his knee,” Doctor Sutterer said.
“Between the videos of Conor cranking away on the rowing machine, all of the knee extensions he’s been doing, and every picture we’ve seen about how his knee looks, I have some questions about what’s going on with his injury timeline here and the treatment plan.”
“Going back to the actual injury, the mechanism makes sense with an ACL and with a meniscus. My, of course, first thought was primarily meniscus because we didn’t see that classic shift forward and then buckle backwards in the tibia like you will often see with a complete full-thickness ACL tear…”
“[There] doesn’t seem to be even the slightest bit of swelling in his knee. Either Conor is like a superhuman, or this is just extremely atypical for your usual, kind of run-of-the-mill ACL tear this quick after suffering the injury. I think there’s a real injury; I just don’t think we maybe necessarily have all the facts and know all the details of it because it doesn’t seem to add up 100% with what we’re seeing timeline-wise.”