{"id":795090,"date":"2026-07-12T07:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T07:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795090\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T07:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T07:57:14","slug":"ufc-news-2026-conor-mcgregor-loses-to-max-holloway-result-and-video-leg-injury-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/795090\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC news 2026: Conor McGregor loses to Max Holloway, result and video, leg injury, reaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conor McGregor<\/a> has denied carrying a secret injury into his comeback fight following an embarrassing 60-second performance that will have fans feeling ripped off.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old Irish combat sports legend failed to land a blow on old rival Max Holloway as the pair headlined UFC<\/a> 329 in Nevada on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conor McGregor jumps into the air for a kick as he fights Max Holloway.\u00a0John Locher<\/p>\n

The fight began with McGregor racing towards Holloway and leaping off the ground in an attempted flying roundhouse kick, which missed by several inches, before he fell to the canvas.<\/p>\n

He tried another high kick, again falling to the canvas, before dropping a third time and being pummelled by Holloway before the referee stepped in to end the farce.<\/p>\n

Replays showed McGregor\u2019s right knee buckle badly as he landed the first time, and UFC boss Dana White later revealed the Irishman has likely ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was expecting at least a one-round war,\u201d White told media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knew what Conor was capable of as far as cardio and whatever else after a five-year layoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there we go, we\u2019re assuming a blown ACL. Doctors think the same thing, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there is speculation McGregor was already injured before the fight began, putting a massive question mark over the legitimacy of the bout.<\/p>\n

It was his first UFC fight in five years, and his last ended with a badly broken leg. In the years since then McGregor has been dogged by allegations of rape and drug abuse.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, fight fans forked out their hard earned cash to watch him take on Holloway a second time, only for the bout to end before it really began.<\/p>\n

Vision was played of a moment before the fight, when McGregor was taking his shoes off. He appeared to wince in pain and hold his right leg in the air, leading commentators to speculate whether there was a pre-existing injury that wasn\u2019t made public.<\/p>\n

The Irishman later took to social media to deny the claims.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conor McGregor wobbles on one leg pre-fight.\u00a0Main Event<\/p>\n

\u201cMy head gasket is gone. Destroyed. I had no injury \/ injuries going into the fight,\u201d McGregor posted on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan pointed out it was the same leg McGregor snapped five years ago, and criticised the flying roundhouse kick attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just tried a crazy move. He tried to jump and roundhouse kick,\u201d Rogan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t land in a good way with the supporting leg, you put so much pressure on that knee.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe landed with his knee in the worst position. He blew his ACL out, 100 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Conor McGregor of Ireland reacts after sustaining a leg injury and losing in the first round of his fight with Max Holloway.\u00a0Ian Maule<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sucks. You just don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might have been the game plan. He threw the kick with the broken leg… maybe to prove he could still kick with that leg? I don\u2019t know, no one will know, only Conor knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former UFC fighter Daniel Cormier could not believe what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like somebody took my candy from me, I\u2019m so sad,\u201d Cormier said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so crazy how sad I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow commentator Joe Anik said the arena was in \u201cstunned disbelief\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really seemed like he was back for the right reasons, for legacy, and now potentially there will be another rebuild… or not, we shall see,\u201d Anik said.<\/p>\n

Holloway wants a third fight with McGregor.<\/p>\n

The crowd booed the Irishman as he hobbled out of the arena, but Holloway told them to get ready for a trilogy bout.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s give it up for Conor, what an absolute animal,\u201d Holloway said as his rival left the scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were in here, I kept trying to call the fight (off), and he kept asking to fight on. But you guys are lucky, because there\u2019s going to be a Holloway v McGregor three now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conor McGregor has denied carrying a secret injury into his comeback fight following an embarrassing 60-second performance that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-795090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}