Ah Yes, That Crippled Irishman
I don't have a lot to say about UFC 329, as I did not watch the event. I rarely even watch the fights in .GIF or highlight video fashion anymore, the UFC has become such a revolting product that I would rather not get that stink on me.
Still, I was curious to see the outcome of Conor McGregor's purported return to MMA. I used to be a big Conor fan; I found his run from the Chad Mendes fight through to his dismantling of Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division champion very inspiring at the time. Then he revealed himself to be a unhinged cokehead and all-around detestable human being before making a fortune from a fight with Floyd Mayweather and selling his personal whiskey brand at peak value.
A little under a decade later and Conor's list of crimes is exhausting to recount, capped off by a recent finding of civil liability for raping Nikita Hand. Since capturing the lightweight title, he's lost a boxing match, got knocked out by Dustin Poirier, then shattered his leg rematching Poirier, pulled out of a prior fight due to a broken toe*, and lost his comeback fight in 69 seconds via injury.
When he's not doing crimes or embarrassing himself in competition, he's found time to foment racial hatred and xenophobia on social media. All told, he's a mess. His comeback fight was exactly the kind of disappointment you would expect from a 38 year-old who's spent the last decade in a drug-addled haze. Whether he came into the fight hiding a knee injury of some kind or is simply unlucky is moot, he's lost his aura and mystique.
I honestly have no idea why Conor even came back. If the vague rumours of financial issues are true, that would be remarkably sad. Like his former opponent, Floyd Mayweather, it's difficult to imagine someone who made hundreds of millions of dollars somehow mismanaging such a vast fortune...
I'm not sure what the future holds for Conor, and I largely do not care. From my vantage point, he has nothing left to offer fighting and may not even be physically capable of competing at a level to warrant his asking price.
* - this has always felt like a cover story for some other issue...
PUBLISHED: 2026-07-13