Conor McGregor says the knee that ended his UFC 329 return has now been repaired, moving him from surgery day into the rehab phase he has been pointing toward since the Max Holloway rematch collapsed.
McGregor posted an 89-second recovery video on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, showing himself outside with a heavy knee brace and crutches. The update follows his earlier confirmation that he tore his ACL and meniscus in the Holloway fight, a comeback that lasted 69 seconds before the injury forced another surgery.
Conor McGregor says knee surgery was a success and his comeback season starts now.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 7, 2026
The written message attached to McGregor’s post was stripped down to the rehab point:
“Surgery done. Knee repaired. The doubters can keep talking. I didn’t run from the pain. I walked straight into it. Now the real work begins. Comeback season starts now. No shortcuts. No excuses. Just the will to rise again.”
McGregor says his knee is repaired after UFC 329
In the video itself, McGregor opened by saying the operation was finished and that his mindset should not be in question.
“What’s up, folks? The Mac is back, baby. My knee is repaired. Surgery was a success, and now I’m on the road to recovery. That should tell you all you need to know about my mindset. Straight into surgery. Knee repaired and on the road. Let’s go.”
The timing fits the recovery window already laid out around McGregor’s injury. Dana White later said McGregor was expected to be out for a year after the UFC 329 knee damage, while McGregor had already targeted next summer after naming the ACL and meniscus tear.
Cruz, St-Pierre and Brady became his recovery examples
McGregor then pointed to athletes who made major knee-injury comebacks. The fighting names were clear: Dominick Cruz, who regained the UFC bantamweight title after a career repeatedly interrupted by ACL injuries, and Georges St-Pierre, who returned from knee surgery during his welterweight title reign. He also mentioned Tom Brady, who came back from the 2008 knee injury that ended his season.
“I want to give a shout out to Dominick Cruz, who returned from multiple ACLs to recapture his bantamweight crown. Georges St-Pierre, multiple ACLs. I don’t know whether he returned after his second ACL, however he’s doing backflips and movement is still stellar. Other notables in other sports: NFL. Tom Brady done it.”
“These are my motivation here, especially the fighting boys. Unstoppable, baby. My mindset is unstoppable, unbreakable.”
He closed the update with a lighter aside about the haircut he kept from fight week.
“I’m going to do something about this hair. I’m not sure just what yet. Stay chill, folks.”
Another long McGregor recovery starts now
McGregor is listed at 22-7 after Holloway stopped him by TKO at 3:54 of Round 1 in Las Vegas. The fight was his first UFC appearance since the Dustin Poirier leg break at UFC 264 in July 2021, and it ended with a different lower-body injury before the first round could settle.
This is not McGregor’s first knee-rehab story with Holloway in the background. In 2013, McGregor tore the ACL in his left knee during his first UFC meeting with Holloway, still won by decision, then returned in July 2014 against Diego Brandao. The 2026 injury came much later in his career, after title runs at featherweight and lightweight, boxing crossover money, the Poirier leg break, and a missed 2024 comeback attempt.
Holloway moved to 28-9 with the UFC 329 win. McGregor has one fight left on his current UFC deal, and his latest message keeps the same stated direction: surgery is done, rehab is active, and the target remains another return rather than retirement.
