UFC 329 blew the roof off (for the most part) T-Mobile Arena last Saturday night (July 11, 2026), leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Benoit Saint Denis, who suffered a lightning -quick submission defeat at the hands of Paddy Pimblett (see it again here).
And Terrance McKinney, who was also stopped in the very first round by King Green (highlights). And let’s not forget about Lone’er Kavanagh, who was submitted by Brandon Royval in the third and final round of their
Flyweight bout (highlights here). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Conor McGregor.
Coming into McGregor’s long-awaited return to action, the atmosphere in Las Vegas, Nevada was at an all-time high. After all, despite being out for five years, “Notorious” proved that he still had the draw power and attraction to command eyeballs and visitors to “Sin City” to come see him perform. And those in attendance had to fork over plenty of cash to see it live.
The mouthy Irishman was adamant he was in shape, motivated and fully-prepared to reclaim the glory days of years past that saw him dominate the sport and the box office. But all of the anticipation and promotion vanished in the blink of an eye after catastrophe struck in the opening seconds of the fight. Indeed, McGregor blew his knee out during his first offensive output that saw him bolt out of his corner like a bat out of hell, only to wind up on the floor in pain, desperately trying to play off the injury and the pain.
And just like that the comeback was over and one of the biggest events of the year came to an anticlimactic end and millions of fans across the glove and thousands in attendance went home unsatisfied and upset.
It was an unfortunate end for McGregor, who was visibly upset seeing as how this was his second straight fight that ended as a result of an injury. Once the dust settled and emotions calmed down a bit, McGregor hopped on social media to reveal that he would indeed be back, which may have surprised many who felt that last night’s result was the perfect reason to call it a day.
“I was so sharp and so ready for this fight I cannot believe what has happened. The talk of me being off while walking in to the fight is nonsense,” he wrote on Twitter. “I was calm, ready, and confident. I am in shock what has taken place. The devil is literally staring at me right in front of my face here. I am not engaging. I will be at church tomorrow. I will overcome this.I will not be deterred.I will return.
Prior to the fight, McGregor revealed that he had one more fight left on his contract and that he was already lined up for another fight in April 2027. Due to his upcoming rehab and recovery time, that date is unlikely to happen, which begs the question: Will he even fulfill the final fight on his contract?
I don’t see any reason why McGregor would want to return to complete his duties with the promotion other than collecting another massive check, or to free himself from his UFC commitment in order to fully be free to take on other combat endeavors. But at at 37 and on the heels of several injuries, what is there left for him to do in any combat sport?
After he shattered his ankle against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021, it took him five years to mount a comeback. During that time, he broke his pinky toe which halted his return a few more months. A knee injury will take much longer to heal, so time is definitely not on his side here.
For more UFC 329 results and highlights click here.
