Sean
Strickland posted a controversial theory on Conor McGregor's UFC
329 injury. | 📷: Getty/UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Sean
Strickland doesn't think Conor
McGregor was injured going into
UFC 329.

McGregor's return to action after five years against Max
Holloway at UFC 329 on Saturday ended in anticlimactic fashion.
“Notorious†blew his right knee with the first kick he attempted,
leading to a stoppage loss hardly over a minute into the first
round. Strickland has now weighed in on the Irishman's injury.

Sean Strickland questions Conor McGregor's knee injury after
UFC 329 loss

While Strickland doesn't want to jump to conclusions, he wonders
whether McGregor's injury could have been triggered by steroid use.
He claims to have seen several steroid users' bodies get fragile
with time.

“Im not saying this is it….. but every homie I have that has done
steroids for too long their bodies become so fragile,†Strickland
wrote on X. “Im not saying thats why but…. it does weaken
everything…â€

There's much ongoing speculation regarding whether McGregor was
already injured going into the fight. Notably, the broadcast
pointed out that he winced and slightly stumbled while removing his
shoes before entering the Octagon. However, Strickland believes
“Notorious†wouldn't have started with a kick if he was already
injured.

“Thats what im saying… if you’re injured you’re protecting your
injury to make it through the fight,†he wrote in another post,
before adding, “No. He wouldn’t of sent a kick like that if he was
hurt. I know from experience.â€

McGregor (22-7) is the UFC's most tested athlete of 2026 by far.
However, the former two-division champion was off the UFC's testing
pool while he was recovering from his leg injury suffered in his
trilogy loss against Dustin
Poirier in 2021. There were also issues with McGregor's drug
testing protocol when he was expected to return in 2023-24. His
drug testing reportedly played a major role in the UFC's split with
its former anti-doping partner, USADA, in 2024.