McGregor's UFC 329 knee injury may be less severe than first feared, doctor says

Conor McGregor’s knee injury from UFC 329 may be less serious than the ACL rupture initially feared, according to sports medicine physician Dr. Brian Sutterer, who offered a remote assessment after the former two-division champion posted a video update to his fans.

McGregor suffered the injury on the very first strike of his rematch with Max Holloway at UFC 329, immediately struggling to stay upright and repeatedly falling before a referee stoppage ended the fight just over a minute in. Ringside commentators and UFC CEO Dana White both speculated at the post-fight press conference that McGregor had blown out his ACL.

Dr. Sutterer, who has not treated or examined McGregor in person, responded to the video on X with a measured but cautiously positive read of the visible signs. He pointed to two details in particular: McGregor was not wearing a brace, and his knee appeared to sit comfortably at roughly 90 degrees of flexion.

“Lack of a brace (assuming he didn’t just take it off for the video) means no high-grade collateral ligament injury (MCL/LCL). Means nothing about ACL and meniscus,” Sutterer wrote. “Range of motion being at least 90deg of flexion and looking relatively comfortable is good.”

The doctor’s comments stop well short of ruling out ACL or meniscus damage — he was explicit that the absence of a brace tells us nothing about those structures — but they do push back against the worst-case scenario that circulated in the immediate aftermath of the fight.

McGregor himself has since addressed fans on Instagram, confirming that medical scans are pending and that their results will clarify the full extent of the damage. The Irishman said he intends to focus on his recovery and return to competition when fit, with one fight remaining on his current UFC contract.