Is Conor McGregor Retiring? UFC Star Makes Major Announcement Following Shocking 69-Second Loss

UFC superstar Conor McGregor is revealing the next steps in his mixed martial arts career following his shocking 69-second loss to Max Holloway at UFC 329 on Saturday, July 11. 

“Surgery. Prehab. Return to martial arts practice. Go again. Final fight of the contract. Please God!” McGregor, 38, shared via Instagram on Monday, July 13. 

McGregor’s comeback dreams hanging on his fight against Holloway, 34, were cut short when McGregor suffered a leg injury just over a minute into the bout. 

“My faith is unconditional and I am thankful I get to prove it!” McGregor wrote. “My lifestyle changes are permanent and not just until. I am thankful I get to prove it.”

He added, “I am a child of God. I am a friend of God. God makes a way for me where there seems to be no way. I am not a victim of my circumstances, I overcome them. God is at work in me to will and to work his good pleasure! My youth is being renewed like the eagles! In Jesus I am thoroughly loved, cherished, adored. I walk in divine health. I live under supernatural protection. All things work out for my good! All things are possible for me because I am a believer!”

McGregor has one fight remaining on his UFC contract, though there is no timetable for his return. Holloway has suggested he may be McGregor’s final fight opponent, which would bring an end to their trilogy. McGregor previously defeated Holloway via decision in 2013. 

Hours after the loss at UFC 329, McGregor broke his silence on social media. 

“I was so sharp and so ready for this fight I cannot believe what has happened,” he wrote via X. “The talk of me being off while walking in to the fight is nonsense. I was calm, ready, and confident. I am in shock what has taken place. The devil is literally staring at me right in front of my face here. I am not engaging. I will be at church tomorrow.”

UFC president Dana White expressed disappointment in the highly-anticipated fight, telling reporters, “I was expecting at least a one-round war.”

“Who knew what Conor was capable of as far as cardio, whatever else, after a five-year layoff, and there you go,” White said of McGregor, who last fought at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, when he suffered a broken leg during the first round. “We’re assuming a blown ACL. I’m no doctor, but that’s what I figured when I saw it, and doctors think the same thing too.”

McGregor did not specify the exact injury he suffered against Holloway on Saturday, but in revealing he plans on having surgery, UFC fans can rest assured it will be a long time before they see him in the octagon again.