McGregor's UFC 329 Injury Was Inevitable, Blas Says

Conor McGregor's dramatic injury at UFC 329 was all but guaranteed after five years away from competition, according to Alberto Blas, the reigning BKB Police Gazette diamond featherweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super featherweight champion who has ties to the former two-division UFC king.

Blas, who defends his title against Brandon Birr at BKB 58 in Miami on August 29, watched McGregor's return fight in July with mixed emotions. The Cuban fighter — a nickname McGregor himself coined — captured and defended the BKFC bantamweight belt before crossing over to BKB, where he won super featherweight gold against Harold McQueen.

McGregor's Layoff Made Injury Likely

Speaking to Bare Knuckle Bowker, Blas said the outcome felt inevitable given the length of McGregor's absence. "When you stay almost half a decade [with] no fight or not do nothing, something [was] going to happen, for sure," he said, per BJ Penn. The champion added that after such a long hiatus, dramatic finishes tend to go one of two ways. "Maybe or you win in one or two round. Or you can lose in one or two round," Blas explained.

McGregor sustained the injury roughly five years after breaking his leg in a previous fight, one of the sport's most graphic in-cage injuries. Blas called the UFC 329 result sad but normal given the circumstances.

The champion has his own history with McGregor, including a widely circulated photo of the two posing together while Blas held BKFC gold. When Blas vacated that title without losing it in the ring to sign with BKB, McGregor reportedly liked a social media post supporting the move. Blas defends his BKB crown later this month against Birr, a former BKB featherweight champion.

Reported via:

• BJPenn — For Conor McGregor’s return “something [was] going to happen, for sure”, per BKB 58 champ with McGregor ties