Conor McGregor's Knee Was 'Never an Issue' Prior to UFC 329 Injury vs. Max Holloway, Coach Says

Conor McGregor's coach has joined the chorus of people denying the Notorious One had a knee injury going into his bout with Max Holloway at UFC 329.

In a post on his Facebook page (h/t ESPN's Brett Okamoto), John Kavanagh stated McGregor's right knee was "never an issue" leading up to the event.

"Devastated," Kavanaugh wrote. "That opening jump switch kick was drilled daily for months, multiple times in warmup. Never an issue. Knee went when he [threw] the very first kick. Doesn't get any worse than this. Looking forward to seeing my family in a few days."

McGregor slipped while trying to deliver a high knee to Holloway right at the start of the fight. He was unable to regain his footing and was unable to defend himself, resulting in the ref stopping the bout after just 69 seconds.

Given how quickly the injury occurred, speculation began that McGregor was injured going in and competed anyway. This has been denied by several key people involved, including McGregor.

UFC president Dana White also came back to the podium after his post-show press conference to clarify there was no pre-existing injury to McGregor.

The full extent of the injury is unknown at this point, but White told reporters it's likely a "blown ACL" for McGregor.

It was a very anticlimactic result for arguably the most-anticipated UFC event of the year. The show marked McGregor's return to the octagon for the first time since 2021.

This is also the second consecutive bout for McGregor that has ended with him suffering a major leg injury. His fight with Dustin Poirier was stopped after the first round when McGregor broke his left tibia.

McGregor has now lost three straight fights dating back to 2021. His most recent win was over Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020.