Conor McGregor's comeback fight takes place this Saturday at UFC 329 after a five-year hiatus, but he was originally meant to return much sooner.

Two years ago, McGregor was set to fight opposing The Ultimate Fighter 31 coach Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024. However, a toe injury forced McGregor out of that contest, the first time in the former two-division champion's UFC career that he'd ever pulled out of a fight. It was a devestating blow for McGregor and his fans, who were eager to see the fighter make his return to action after breaking his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

In an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, McGregor's longtime coach John Kavanagh took full responsibility for the pre-UFC 303 injury that occurred in training.

â€I'll say it more bluntly than [McGregor] will,†Kavanagh said. “I should have had the protective gear on both guys from the start. The beginning of it was a little bit rushed. It's different when you're sparring for sparring, and sparring for whatever they were, Embedded or Countdown, and it was a bit sort of haphazard.

“‘What are we doing?' ‘OK, you two move around for the cameras, but it's also a spar.' It just wasn't done right.â€

Initially, McGregor and his team were unaware of the severity of the injury, so McGregor pressed on with the sparring session that was both for his preparation and for the UFC's video documentation. McGregor felt something was bothering him after his training partner blocked a kick, but pressed on to finish the spar.

“Look, I'll put my hand up,†Kavanagh said. “I should have had all the gear on them and they didn't and he awkwardly caught Tristan's elbow and that happened very early. … That happened in the first minute or so of Round 1 and he kind of whispered to me in between the rounds that he feels his toe is broke. I'm trying to stop it and he insisted on doing the next four rounds, he did all five rounds, because you can kind of run on adrenaline a little bit. But yeah, it was nasty.â€

McGregor's toe injury left him with no choice but to cancel the Chandler matchup and despite months and months and months of rumors, he wouldn't have another fight announced until he was paired up with past opponent Max Holloway to fill the UFC 329 main event spot.

Ahead of McGregor's comeback fight, Kavanagh didn't take any chances with his fighter's health this time.

“Sick,†Kavanagh said when asked how he felt when McGregor injured his foot. “Really, really sick. … It was my fault. I'm not going to beat around the bush on it. Should have had the gear on them.

“So we've been super careful this training camp. Not a niggle on him, not a bump, not a bruise, 100 percent, and we'll get to see the best version of him.â€

Fury. Conor McGregor isn't chasing a fight with “f*cking bum†Justin Gaethje.

Stubborn. McGregor still isn't giving Khabib Nurmagomedov credit for beating him.

Busy? McGregor's longtime coach John Kavanagh thinks McGregor could fight out his contract this year.

Fight. Paddy Pimblett doesn't care what Arman Tsarukyan thinks he deserves, he needs to fight.

Rejuvenated. Robert Whittaker sees himself fighting a few more times now that he's a light heavyweight.

Stray. Mario Bautista has no idea why the UFC social team tagged him in a video where he was being submitted.

Home. Merab Dvalishvili still waiting for Petr Yan with RAF Georgia match ahead.

UFC 329 media day highlights.

UFC 329 pre-fight presser.

Submission Radio media day reaction.

Ben Askren Road to RAF vlog.

UFC 329 Embedded. (Look, it's Conor!)

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Build a worse fighter, we'll wait.

The Ultimate Fighter 34's latest winner.

Yan Xiaonan (19-5, 1 NC) vs. Denise Gomes (12-3); UFC Shanghai, Aug. 29

Rei Tsuruya (11-1) vs. Kevin Borjas (11-5); UFC Shanghai, Aug. 29

You never forget your first.

Two days away from Conor McGregor's return, believe it or not.

Apologies for no Morning Report on Friday, will be back Monday after the UFC 329 dust has settled. Have a great weekend everyone!

If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKLee of @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and like us on Facebook.