McGregor Reveals Injury Contingency Planning Ahead of UFC 329 Return

Conor McGregor has offered a candid window into how his approach to fight preparation has evolved, revealing that he now develops specific contingency plans for serious in-fight injuries before stepping into the Octagon.

This is a direct response to the broken leg that ended his last appearance at UFC 264 in July 2021, a stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy. Conor has evolved since then, as he is ready for come what may.

"Now as I have become a lot more experienced in the game I actually work backwards towards the perfect scenario. I have had a limb break inside the Octagon, and now I must have an answer to that. I have the perfect scenario — you knock them out with the big backhand, the crowd roars. But then I have the worst case scenario — the shoulder dislocates midway through the first round, what's my mechanisms? The knee dislocates in the first round, what's my movements, my reactions?"

"If the ankle goes, if the knee goes, if the shoulder goes, what's my response? Because the fight's not over. If you have a manoeuvre, you can outlast and you can survive in there and you can work towards the victory. I have found as I have gotten more experience in the fight game to work my way backwards from the worst case scenario, to the best case scenario. And then focus and prepare for the best case scenario. That's where I'm at right now,” McGregor

The Challenge

For McGregor, this is not new to him. He has torn his ACL in a fight and continued, broken his leg in the Octagon, and withdrawn from a scheduled return against Michael Chandler in June 2024 with a broken toe sustained in training. The injury history that has defined the last five years of his career has clearly shaped how he thinks about what can go wrong and what comes next when it does.

The opponent across from him on July 11 adds another layer to the conversation. Max Holloway was present for the ACL tear in 2013 — a fight McGregor won despite the injury — and with revenge on his mind. He is a former featherweight champion, whose own durability and output over five rounds represent a very different challenge to the featherweight bout they contested thirteen years ago. UFC 329 takes place July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during International Fight Week.