McGregor injures leg on opening kick; fight called...
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- Conor McGregor injured his right leg on a jump kick in the opening seconds of his UFC 329 main event against Max Holloway at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and the fight was waved off at 1:09 of the first round, awarding Holloway a TKO victory.
- McGregor, 37, was making his first Octagon appearance in over five years after recovering from a broken leg suffered in 2021; he immediately left the arena and skipped his post-fight interview.
- The bout was a 13-year rematch of their 2013 meeting, which McGregor won despite tearing his ACL — and this time he charged in and landed awkwardly on the same leg on a jump kick to start the fight.
- Max Holloway fought at 170 pounds for the first time in his career after spending the previous 12 years at featherweight, where he built the most wins and longest winning streak in divisional history.
- McGregor entered the comeback on a 1-3 MMA run since his 2017 boxing crossover loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., with all three defeats coming by stoppage — once to Khabib Nurmagomedov and twice to Dustin Poirier.
- Holloway joked after the fight, "I had him weak in the knees I guess," and called for a third bout, saying he worked "my ass off" to make 170 pounds only to see the fight end in 69 seconds.
- McGregor had previously come close to a 2024 return against Michael Chandler, but a toe injury pushed him back another two years — leaving his next appearance timeline completely uncertain after the latest leg injury.
Why it matters: McGregor had been the UFC's biggest box-office draw and the first fighter to hold simultaneous titles in two divisions, but he has now gone 1-3 in MMA since 2017 and has not won a fight in over five years. A rematch billed as a career resurrection ended in 69 seconds with another lower-leg injury, leaving the promotion's marquee star without a win and without a clear path back to competition.
