UFC 329 takeaways: End of the road for McGregor?

Conor McGregor's long-awaited return didn't go as planned.

The former two-division champion suffered a knee injury in the opening seconds of the UFC 329 main event against Max Holloway on Saturday in Las Vegas. He was unable to continue, giving Holloway a TKO victory 69 seconds into the first round and marking an anticlimactic finish to an otherwise entertaining event.

In the co-main event, Paddy Pimblett returned to the win column in impressive fashion, choking Benoit Saint Denis out cold 52 seconds into their lightweight bout.

Here are five takeaways from the event.

McGregor may never fight again

Let me start by saying this: McGregor made a poor choice by going for that jumping kick at the start of the fight. Of course, he couldn't have predicted that he'd land awkwardly and blow out his knee, but think about it for a second. You're almost 38 years old, coming back from a five-year layoff that stemmed from a broken leg. This is what you decide to do right out of the gate? I know McGregor's head coach, John Kavanagh, said he had trained the kick for weeks (and the UFC posted footage of him doing so backstage). But it still seemed unnecessarily risky to me.

Anyway, what's done is done. McGregor promised the greatest comeback in sports history, and, unfortunately for him, this was anything but that. Now what?

Before anything, we'll have to see how long McGregor's recovery takes. UFC CEO Dana White said at the postfight press conference that doctors believe McGregor tore his ACL, though the extent of his injury still hasn't been confirmed. McGregor, though, was quick to say that he plans to fight again.

"I will overcome this," he wrote early Sunday morning on X. "I will not be deterred. I will return."

The biggest question is, can he?

It's not difficult to believe that McGregor will attempt another comeback. This is the second straight fight in which he suffered a devastating injury, and that probably isn't what he had in mind for the end of his Hall of Fame career. McGregor said ahead of UFC 329 that he was coming back to prove something to himself, and it's safe to say ... he didn't even get a chance to do so.

It's more difficult to believe that McGregor can come back from this. Maybe it was a fluke injury, but it's clear that McGregor's body doesn't hold up the way it used to. (First the broken leg against Dustin Poirier, then the broken toe in 2024, and now this.) Whether that's because he's in his late 30s or has spent the last five years living it up at his pub in Dublin - or a combination of things - is up to interpretation.

The reality is, injuries can ruin fighters' careers. Just ask Dominick Cruz, Chris Weidman, or Michael Bisping, all of whom were on the UFC 329 analyst desk.

There might not even be an appetite to see McGregor fight again. This was a long five-year wait to see the UFC's biggest star back in the Octagon, and it was over in the blink of an eye. Talk about a buzzkill. That isn't McGregor's fault, but it does leave a bad taste in people's mouths - especially those who paid big money to be in the arena.

Would fans be willing to go through this whole process again, knowing now that there is a reasonable chance McGregor could simply hurt himself again? I'm not so sure.

What's next for Holloway?

Holloway has toyed with the idea of staying at welterweight, but he's far better off returning to lightweight.

"Blessed" is in the mix for a 155-pound title shot after beating McGregor - albeit in underwhelming fashion - and putting his loss to Charles Oliveira in the rearview mirror. He isn't the most deserving contender, but he holds a win over current champion Justin Gaethje, and that counts for something. Not only did Holloway beat Gaethje, but he knocked him out in the final second at UFC 300 in 2024, producing one of the most iconic moments in the sport's history. A rematch would be an easy sell.

If he doesn't get a title shot, Holloway could take on Pimblett or Arman Tsarukyan in a No. 1 contender bout. Either way, there's a big matchup in store for Holloway after beating McGregor.

Pimblett the biggest winner of the night

From the walkout to the performance inside the cage, Pimblett had a perfect night at UFC 329.

And boy, did he need it.

After losing to Gaethje in an interim title bout in January, Pimblett was the underdog coming into his matchup with Saint Denis, France's red-hot contender. But the fight couldn't have gone better for the Liverpool native. In a matter of 52 seconds, Pimblett stuffed a takedown attempt and locked up a D'Arce choke that put Saint Denis to sleep.

On paper, this was the biggest, most impressive win of Pimblett's career by a mile. It trumps his victories over Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson, both of whom were past their prime. It felt like a legitimate superstar moment, especially after he made his time on the microphone count, calling out just about every contender in the division.

This win over Saint Denis will make people forget about the Gaethje fight, and that's key for Pimblett. There were some doubts about Pimblett's status as a lightweight contender after that loss at UFC 324, but he's all the way back now.

A passing-of-the-torch moment between McGregor, Pimblett

It felt like the MMA gods were telling us something with the way the main and co-main events ended.

In the span of an hour, Pimblett shined and McGregor went out with a whimper. Pimblett winning and McGregor losing in back-to-back fights felt like a passing-of-the-torch moment between two of the UFC's biggest cash cows.

Pimblett himself was quick to recognize this after watching McGregor's devastating loss.

"He's finished," Pimblett said backstage after the main event. "The new boy is in town. The main man's here. ... I can become the face of the organization now."

Perhaps a new era is indeed here.

Steveson did what he needed to do

Gable Steveson got the job done in his highly anticipated UFC debut.

Steveson, the Olympic gold medalist and two-time Division I champion wrestler, knocked out Elisha Ellison in the first round to move to 1-0 in the Octagon and 4-0 in professional MMA.

It was no surprise that Steveson won his debut as a -1600 betting favorite. He met expectations with the performance, but I'm not certain he exceeded them. He looked raw and was a bit overaggressive at the start. That's completely understandable considering he turned pro less than a year ago. But those are the things that may not fly against a decent heavyweight. I need to see more before I'm convinced that Steveson can hang with the best in the world.

That said, he's 1-0 and not 0-1 to begin his UFC career, and that's the most important thing.