McGregor coach breaks silence on UFC 329 knee disaster
Conor McGregor's longtime coach John Kavanagh broke his silence hours after his fighter's knee buckled in the opening seconds of UFC 329, calling the result "devastating."
McGregor attempted a running switch kick as soon as the bell rang Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, facing Max Holloway for the first time in five years. The strike missed its target and his right knee appeared to collapse on landing. He tried to continue but the leg gave out multiple times before the referee stopped the welterweight bout just over a minute in, per MMA Mania.
Kavanagh defends camp preparation after freak injury
"That opening jump switch kick was drilled daily for months, multiple times in warm up," Kavanagh wrote on Facebook. "Never an issue. Knee went when he threw the very first kick."
The Irish coach added that the situation "doesn't get any worse than this," echoing McGregor's own claim that no pre-fight injury existed. Kavanagh has previously acknowledged when injuries affected McGregor's fights — he revealed doctors found micro-fractures in the Irishman's femur before the third Dustin Poirier bout in 2021 and warned against competing.
Footage from backstage at UFC 329 showed McGregor moving dynamically and throwing kicks on the same leg minutes before the fight. Some observers noted what appeared to be instability when he removed his shoes cageside, though Kavanagh insists the camp was clean and the knee gave out on contact.
McGregor has not announced a timeline for surgery or a potential return date.
Original reporting:
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