Israel Adesanya believes Conor McGregor was injured before entering UFC 329 octagon

The abrupt ending of the UFC 329 main event between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway sent online sleuths into a frenzy. Some accuse the Irishman of having the injury prior to the rematch with "Blessed" last Saturday. Others allege McGregor faked the injury and showed up to collect a payday.

McGregor seemingly suffered the injury in the opening seconds of the first round. He landed awkwardly after leaping into the air with a kick at the sound of the first-round bell. He fell to the canvas. Moments later he fell again while throwing a kick. Following falling a third time after throwing a punch, the fight was eventually waived off.

Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes McGregor entered the UFC 329 octagon already injured.

"I have eyes. When they did the replay and he took the Crocs off, he didn't put weight on that right leg. He didn't," Adesanya said on Precision with Mighty & Izzy. "I know he was throwing it in the locker room."

"The Last Stylebender" mentioned a rumor that someone placed a $900,000 wager on Holloway 'right before the fight.' He also pointed to lip reading a conversation between Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn before the bout.

"I have eyes. When Conor took off the Crocs, as much as much as he said afterwards, you know, 'I wasn't injured before the fight,' I saw he didn't put weight on the right leg. And that tells me something."

As McGregor warmed up in the back before making the walk to the octagon inside T-Mobile Arena, he was shown throwing kicks and the same kick that he did moments later to start the fight. He didn't appear to be injured and Adesanya admitted that there's a possibility that McGregor injured himself while warming up.

"For me, I will say I don't know. That's possible. That's plausible. He could have hurt himself in the warm-up," Adesanya said. "Who knows? But all I know is when he go to the prep point and he took his Crocs off, he wasn't standing on that leg well. And again, that could have been between that warm-up and that point."

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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 10:03 PM.