Conor McGregor announced Monday that he’s undergoing surgery following a disastrous loss to Max Holloway in their rematch in the main event at UFC 329 on July 11 in Las Vegas.
The former two-weight UFC champion had not fought for five years, yet his comeback lasted only 69 seconds when he suffered a severe right leg injury when attempting a flying kick in the opening seconds of the welterweight bout. McGregor fell to the canvas, absorbed ground strikes from Holloway, and though he returned to his feet, he went back down twice more before the referee, Mike Beltran, stopped the contest, awarding the Holloway a TKO victory.
The injury turned out to be a torn ACL and meniscus, the exact same injury Conor suffered in his opposite knee during his first fight vs Holloway back in 2013.
Now, just over three weeks removed from his UFC 329 injury, Conor announced the inevitable … that he’s heading into surgery.
Following the surgery, McGregor will have a long road to recovery, but he’s targeting to compete in what he is calling his “Last Dance” next summer, and he wants that final fight on his UFC contract to be a third fight vs Holloway.
It’s clear that even after five years away from the sport, Conor is still MMA’s biggest draw as his comeback generated the largest gate in UFC history ($25 million) so it will be interesting to see what his final fight in the Octagon can do.