Conor McGregor failed to finish the first round of his rematch with Max Holloway, but he will not yet call it a career. He has announced he will return to MMA for another fight.
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The Irishman injured his knee in the opening seconds of Saturday night's fight against Holloway, which led to him falling to the mat multiple times. Referee Mike Beltran stopped the match at 1:09, as it became evident that McGregor would not be able to continue.
"All things work out for my good," he wrote on Instagram. "All things are possible for me because I am a believer! Surgery. Prehab. Return to martial arts practice. Go again. Final fight of the contract. Please God!
"I trust in You Lord! Show me Your way. Thank You God."
The loss to Holloway marked McGregor's first fight in the UFC since 2021. He broke his leg while fighting Dustin Poirier, which led to a defeat.
Another leg injury disrupted his return to the octagon and led to his fifth loss in his last six fights. His lone victory during this stretch came against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in January 2020.
Immediately after the injury, former fighter-turned-analyst Michael Bisping expressed the opinion that McGregor's career could be over. He said, "If it's a real surgery, if he's blown his ACL and will have to take a year or 18 months out, that's it."
Bisping is not the only fighter who weighed in after McGregor's injury-shortened return to the octagon. Michael Chandler also provided comments. He pushed back against the notion that McGregor went into the match with a preexisting injury so that he could just collect a paycheck.
"You can say what you want about Conor, one thing he is not, he's not a quitter, one thing he is not is a bamboozler," Chandler said in a social media video. "The body is unpredictable, and every fight is unpredictable."
