Jake Paul wasted little time weighing in on Conor McGregor‘s disastrous UFC comeback. Within hours of UFC 329 ending, the YouTuber-turned-boxer posted multiple videos parodying the injury that forced McGregor’s fight against Max Holloway to be stopped after just 69 seconds.

Jake Paul Initially Mocked McGregor’s Injury

In one clip shared to X, Paul appeared to recreate the moment McGregor’s knee gave out by kicking his leg twice before grabbing at it, screaming in exaggerated pain, and falling backward into a swimming pool. He captioned the video, “UFC highlights from tonight.”

Paul followed up with a similar video on Instagram, writing, “Recap for those who didn’t watch,” while once again mimicking McGregor’s awkward collapse before tumbling into the water. The videos quickly gained attention online as fans debated whether Paul had crossed a line by mocking a fighter who had potentially suffered a serious injury.

Paul’s Tone Shifted After The Initial Mockery

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Despite the trolling, Paul later appeared to soften his stance. In a separate post on X, the boxer offered a much more sympathetic message directed toward McGregor and his family. “Prayers for you and your family,” Paul wrote.

The message stood in stark contrast to the videos he had posted earlier and differed significantly from the reaction of his brother, Logan Paul. While Jake eventually expressed support for the former UFC champion, Logan continued criticizing McGregor after revealing he had won $30,000 betting on Max Holloway.

The elder Paul brother called McGregor’s performance “pathetic” and even used the moment to challenge him to a boxing match, prompting backlash from many fans who accused him of celebrating another athlete’s injury.

McGregor Vows To Return Despite Latest Setback

The injury marked another heartbreaking chapter in McGregor’s comeback attempt. The former two-division UFC champion had not competed since suffering a broken leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, making UFC 329 one of the most anticipated fights of his career. After his knee buckled during an exchange with Holloway, referee Mike Beltran waved off the fight and awarded Holloway a TKO victory.

UFC President Dana White later revealed doctors believe McGregor may have suffered a torn ACL. “My head gasket is gone,” McGregor wrote on X while addressing fans after the fight. “I had no injury / injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere.”

Although clearly devastated by the result, McGregor insisted his fighting career is far from over. “I will overcome this,” he wrote. “I will not be deterred. I will return.”

Max Holloway Joked About McGregor’s Injury But Praised His Toughness

Max Holloway couldn’t resist taking a playful jab at Conor McGregor after the shocking ending to UFC 329.

Speaking to reporters following his victory, Holloway joked that he may have been responsible for McGregor’s knee giving out during the opening exchanges. “I had him weak in the knees, I guess,” Holloway said with a smile.

Despite the joke, Holloway admitted the ending wasn’t how he envisioned the long-awaited showdown concluding. “We have to run it back one more time for the boys,” Holloway said. “I worked my a– off to get to 170 pounds for this fight, and to see it end like this, it sucks.”

Holloway also revealed what was said between the two fighters moments after McGregor’s knee buckled. According to the former featherweight champion, McGregor initially refused to quit despite clearly being injured.

“The first time he’s on the ground, I was punching him and he’s like, ‘Fight! Fight!'” Holloway recalled. “I was like, ‘OK.’ That’s why I backed up. I said, ‘Stand up then, let’s fight.’ He fell back down and then the fight was called.”

Conor McGregor Had Promised Fans A Different Version Of Himself

The disappointing ending came after months of McGregor insisting fans would see a different version of him inside and outside the Octagon.

In numerous interviews leading up to UFC 329, the former two-division champion spoke openly about recommitting himself to training, embracing his faith, and focusing on what he described as a more disciplined lifestyle.

Instead, his comeback lasted just 69 seconds before a devastating knee injury brought the fight to an abrupt end, leaving McGregor facing yet another lengthy recovery period and raising fresh questions about his future in combat sports.

The Jake Paul Stages Viral Conor McGregor Injury Parody After UFC 329 first appeared on The Blast

UFC 329 provided an exciting night of fights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, but the event came to an unfortunate end when Conor McGregor suffered a knee injury to prematurely end his highly anticipated comeback to the Octagon.

McGregor rushed Max Holloway seconds into the fight and threw a leaping kick, before coming up limp after an awkward landing. From there, the former two-division champ struggled to keep his footing and the fight was ultimately called off by referee Mike Beltran just over a minute into the bout.

The lackluster ending to the even led to conspiracy theories online, with many pointing out that McGregor may have been injured before stepping into the cage.

MORE: UFC 329 results – Conor McGregor return ends in seconds due to injury

A video of McGregor appearing to lose his footing while taking off his shoes before entering the Octagon sparked the theory, and the UFC answered by sharing their own video of McGregor’s pre-fight warm-up. In that video, McGregor is seens warming up by throwing kicks similar to what he opened up his bout against Holloway with, and showing no signs of having a compromised knee.

Conor McGregor’s warm-up moments before walking out at #UFC329. pic.twitter.com/tLfK01Jie3

— UFC (@ufc) July 12, 2026

Will that be enough to quiet the conspiracies? Probably not, despite video from the actual fight showing McGregor’s knee buckle from an awkward landing. It won’t be until an official diagnosis is confirmed that we will learn more about where everything went wrong.

For his part, McGregor has also denied any pre-existing injury in a statement on social media following the heartbreaking loss.

MORE: Did Conor McGregor knee injury happen before UFC 329?

“My head gasket is gone,” McGregor wrote on X. “Destroyed. I had no injury/injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere. I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.

“I was so sharp and so ready for this fight I cannot believe what has happened. 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.”

As McGregor now prepares to recover from his latest leg injury, we’ll have to wait and see whether this is the last we have seen of the former two-division champion inside of the cage.

Holloway, meanwhile, will now have to decide whether he wants to wait for a potential McGregor trilogy fight in 2027, or whether he will make another run at UFC gold.

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MMA legend Conor McGregor is making his return to the Octagon in UFC 329 on Saturday night against Max Holloway and his impact is already being felt before the event begins.

UFC president and CEO Dana White was a guest on ESPN’s SportsCenter and revealed that UFC 329 has brought in the biggest gate in the company’s history.

The previous record was $22 million, which happened at UFC 306 at The Sphere. For UFC 329, the gate is $25 million.

“We’ll see how this fight plays out on Saturday, but the Conor McGregor effect is huge,” White revealed. “Our biggest gate ever was The Sphere, 22 million. This gate beat it at 25 million, so it’s the biggest gate in UFC history for his return. The city is buzzing.”

MORE: UFC 329 weigh-in results – Conor McGregor, Max Holloway official for welterweight showdown

When White announced the historic gate at a pre-fight press conference, McGregor made sure to thank fans for their support.

“Thank you to the fans. Thank you to our fans,” McGregor said.

The historic hype for UFC 329 comes as zero surprise.

McGregor is one of the all-time greats and one of the most popular fighters to ever step into the Octagon, so he’s a huge draw in and of himself.

But he also hasn’t fought in the UFC in five years, so that only adds to the anticipation for his rematch with Holloway, who McGregor defeated via unanimous decision in 2013.

MORE: UFC power rankings ahead of UFC 329 in Las Vegas

This won’t be the last time we see McGregor in the Octagon, as the 37-year-old will fight at least once more after Saturday night.

Conor McGregor’s illustrious UFC career

McGregor sports a 22-6 career record, although four of those losses have come in his last seven fights. He has lost each of his last two and three of his last four.

Prior to his run of losses over the last decade, McGregor, who is one of the greatest knockout artists in the sport’s history, was unstoppable, winning a whopping 15 matches in a row before Nate Diaz ended his streak in 2016.

MORE: Former WWE champ, MMA fighter brutally knocked out at Power Slap 21

McGregor, who has faced no shortage of controversy outside of the Octagon, has held titles in two different weight classes, including featherweight and lightweight, and he was the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes at the same time.

When you talk about the true legends of the sport, McGregor is right up there with the best of them.

UFC 329 fight card

While McGregor-Holloway 2 is the most anticipated fight for UFC 329, there are a lot of intriguing bouts on the card.

Here’s the full UFC 329 fight card:

Main Card

Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway
Paddy Pimblett vs. Benoit Saint Denis
Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista
Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Brandon Royval
King Green vs. Terrance McKinney

Prelims Card

Cesar Almeida vs. Damian Pinas
Ryan Gandra vs. Zach Reese
Cody Garbrandt vs. Adrian Yanez
Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison

Early Prelims Card

Kai Kamaka vs. Luke Riley
Robert Whittaker vs. Nikita Krylov
Wang Cong vs. Tracy Cortez
Farid Basharat vs. John Garza
Cody Durden vs. Alessandro Costa

The UFC 329 early prelims and later prelims will begin at 5 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET, respectively, and the main card starts at 9 p.m. ET (fight card subject to change).

All fights will be broadcast on Paramount+.

Drake strongly believes that Conor McGregor will win his first professional MMA fight in almost five years, as the rap icon placed a massive $1 million bet on the Irishman to beat Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329.

“THE MAC IS BACK?!?!?? The proper twelve drinking, tailored suit wearing, Lambo Yacht riding man with the Dubai tan that once had both belts in both hands… Say less @stake,” Drake posted on Instagram.

Based on his screenshot, Drake will earn a $1.85 million profit if McGregor wins tomorrow. The five-time Grammy Award winner has made a habit of making seven-figure bets on high-profile sporting events such as the NBA Finals, World Cup, and the Super Bowl.

However, most of his bets have lost, which has given life to the infamous “Drake Curse.” McGregor’s last win in the Octagon was on January 18, 2020, against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. On the other hand, Holloway’s last victory was against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 last July 20, 2025.

MORE: Conor McGregor accused of HGH, anabolic steroids use while outside drug testing pool

Conor McGregor downplays fitness concerns ahead of UFC 329 return

The last time we saw Conor McGregor in the Octagon was when he broke his leg during UFC 264 in the final seconds of round one, losing to Dustin Poirier in 2021. The injury was reminiscent of the leg break suffered by Anderson Silva, who hasn’t been the same fighter since.

However, “The Notorious” claims that the leg break turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him, so much so that he feels it has actually extended his professional MMA career.

“I am fully, fully healed. There is a titanium rod down the knee into the ankle, and it is solid. I’m Terminator now, that is my mindset, McGregor said in a Paramount+ interview.

“I always say an injury is not just a process of recovery, it is a process of discovery. You uncover a lot about yourself – about your frame, your body, your movements, your mechanics,” he added. “In actuality, everything happens for a reason. This allowed me to carry on with my career, and it will bring longevity to my career.”

With Conor McGregor's octagon return just days away, fighters, analysts and fans are getting their predictions in. Former middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis is the latest to weigh in on the Irishman's rematch against Max Holloway in the UFC 329 main event.

"How exciting. Whether you are a fan of Conor, a fan of Max, if you dislike Conor, dislike Max, just having the Mac back is amazing. I think the whole world is talking about it," Du Plessis told Fight Forecast.

"It's been so long coming and I think there was a stage where even I thought I don't think it's ever going to happen again. He always said he would and, you know, he had to go through something in his life and, you know, fix his lifestyle and he seems to have done that."

"Stillknocks" is admittedly a fan of both McGregor and Holloway but he predicted the Irishman will get his hand raised inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"I'm going with the Mac. I'm never going against him. I'm never going against Conor," Du Plessis said. "Max Holloway, massive fan. Love him. He's a great fighter and he's deserving of everything he's gotten and al the praise. But I can't go against Conor."

"Conor has that scary timing. Everybody that's fought him says that. That timing and he has that sneaky power. Everyone that fights him says when he hits you, you feel it. And it just takes one."

On the second episode of UFC 329 Embedded, Max Holloway and his team cook out for the Fourth of July; Robert Whittaker gives us a peek into what it’s like to have six kids; Benoit Saint Denis goes for a hike; Terrance McKinney and his family enjoy a night of games and fireworks; Mario Bautista prepares for his rematch against Cory Sandhagen; Brandon Royval gives back to his community; Paddy Pimblett races go karts with his team.

UFC 329 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 11 and features the return of former two-division champion Conor McGregor in the main event. McGregor takes on former featherweight champion and BMF titleholder Max Holloway in a rematch.

UFC 329 Embedded - Episode 2

Former two-division champion Conor McGregor plans to put on a 'masterpiece' performance in his UFC 329 return on Saturday. "The Notorious" takes on former featherweight champion and BMF titleholder Max Holloway in a rematch in the fight card's main event.

It's been five years since the 37 year-old made the walk to the octagon and heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall expects a vintage McGregor performance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

"I watched a couple of his interviews recently. He seems in a really good place. I know it's only an interview, but he does seem in a good place. When McGregor's on form, he's absolutely unreal. Absolutely unreal," Aspinall said on his YouTube channel.

"He's beat Max Hollway before. Max Holloway, in my opinion, really, really good fighter. One of the best ever. Didn't look great in his last fight. Did not look great against Charles Oliveira at all. He looked like, he kind of like was questioning whether he wanted to be there or not at points, but he was fighting a grappler. So, you know, when it's all striking, which it probably will be with McGregor, Max Holloway's shown some, his striking, like his striking IQ is so good. Doesn't get it much. But in the first fight, he grappled him. He might grapple him again."

The two first fought at UFC Fight Night 26 in August 2013. McGregor defeated Holloway via unanimous decision in a featherweight bout and had to use grappling to do it. The Irishman tore his ACL during the match and was forced to immediately adjust game plans.

"Neither of them are the same fighter that they were like 10 years ago. Obviously, there's been massive gaps. They've also got a lot more miles on the clock and stuff like that. I think that, yeah, Max is definitely later on in his career. Max, though, Max puts on some unbelievable performances. When we saw him fight Justin Gaethje, he was unreal. That wasn't that long ago," Aspinall said.

"He's absolutely unreal when he's on form. So, I just want to see a good fight. I'm excited to see McGregor back. I'm always excited to see Max Holloway fight. This is one to get excited about for sure."

Despite McGregor's long layoff, Aspinall predicted he'll get the job done on Saturday and believes it will happen in the first round. If McGregor's able to knock Holloway out, he'll be on the second fighter to do so.

"But like I said, I heard a couple of McGregor interviews. I was very impressed with what he was talking about and how calmed he seemed and how focused he seemed. I know it's just an interview. It doesn't really mean anything but he's up against an active guy like Max Holloway. But the thing is that power doesn't leave. Like, he just needs one shot and it can be over. So, I'm more favoring towards a McGregor win," Aspinall said.

"I think Conor McGregor round one knockout. ... I think he's going to land the big left bomber on him."