Israel Adesanya believes Conor McGregor may have entered UFC 329 already compromised, suggesting the Irish star’s right knee was an issue before he ever stepped into the cage against Max Holloway.
McGregor blew out his right knee 69 seconds into his comeback bout with Holloway at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will require surgery to repair the damage. Speaking after the event, Adesanya pointed to what he saw in the pre-fight moments.
"I have eyes. When they did the replay and he took the Crocs off, he didn't put weight on that right leg," Adesanya said on Precision with Mighty & Izzy alongside co-host Demetrious Johnson.
Adesanya doubled down on his observation, adding, "He didn't. I know he was throwing it in the locker room. Also, there was a guy that put $900K on Max right before the fight? So things like that ... I have eyes. When Conor took off the Crocs, as much as much as he said afterwards, you know, 'I wasn't hurt before the fight,' I saw he didn't put weight on the right leg. And that tells me something."
At the same time, Adesanya stopped short of making a definitive claim. "For me, I will say I don't know," he said, later noting, "That's possible. That's plausible. He could have hurt himself in the warmup. Even Brian Ortega hurt himself being announced in the octagon, so crazy sh*t happens in the cage. Who knows? But all I know is when he got to the prep point and he took his Crocs off. He wasn't standing on that leg well. And again, that could have been between that warmup and that point."
McGregor entered the Holloway fight with a 22-7 MMA record and 10-5 mark in the UFC, while Holloway came in at 28-9 in MMA and 24-9 in the UFC.
