RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The UFC 329 main event in Las Vegas, Nevada, failed to live up to the hype that had preceded it as returning MMA star Conor McGregor suffered a devastating first-round injury.
McGregor, back for his first fight in five years, attempted a jumping kick at the start of the bout against Max Holloway, only to blow out his ACL. From that point on, he was unable to continue fighting and, eventually, after multiple falls to the mat and his favoring his injured leg, the referee called for a TKO stoppage.
Current UFC Welterweight champion Islam Makhachev recently expressed his thoughts about seeing McGregor get hurt so early into the fight.
"Honestly, I feel bad, but I know Max is going to beat him, but not like fast like this in the first minute," Makhachev told Complex . "I want to see how he fights after five years, and honestly feel bad when this happened."
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McGregor and Holloway were facing each other for the second time in their careers. The two MMA stars previously battled in August 2013, with McGregor capturing a win via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen in Boston.
After his loss in 69 seconds at the highly anticipated sequel, his opponent suggested that they would run it back for a trilogy fight in the future. However, McGregor is facing a lengthy road to recovery, revealing that he'd suffered a torn meniscus and ACL at UFC 329.
Makhachev and McGregor share a common opponent in the past five years. Both fighters have gone against Dustin Poirier at least once in their respective careers.
However, Makhachev defeated Poirier at UFC 302 in June 2024. McGregor has back-to-back losses to Poirier, including his previous fight five years ago at UFC 264. "The Notorious" MMA star also defeated Poirier back in 2014 via first-round TKO.
Makhachev, a former Lightweight Champion, last fought at UFC 322 in November 2025, defeating Jack Della Maddalena to win the UFC Welterweight Championship.
It seems the current champ had a strong interest in seeing a longer fight, just like many other people did in Las Vegas. However, McGregor has vowed he'll come back to fight again, although some have their doubts due to the nature of this injury and his being 39 by the time he has recovered for a fight.
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