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Morning Report: Conor McGregor coach takes blame for injury that delayed return

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3 months ago

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Morning Report: Conor McGregor coach takes blame for injury that delayed return

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.

My first favorite fighter

With Conor coming back this weekend, he is the one who got me watching UFC and mixed martial arts. He was incredible and I'm hoping he can somehow pull off a win. Which fighter got you into MMA?

Rec 6ReplyRead 44 replies

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.

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MMA

Raoni Barcelos releases first statement since scary UFC Vegas 121 loss to Raul Rosas Jr.

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3 hours ago

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September 28, 2026

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Raoni Barcelos releases first statement since scary UFC Vegas 121 loss to Raul Rosas Jr.

Raoni Barcelos is “doing great†despite the frightening scenes in his UFC Vegas 121 main event loss to Raul Rosas Jr. this past weekend at the Meta APEX.

The 39-year-old bantamweight was ahead in the scorecards going into the final round and blacked out and collapsed unconscious for apparent no reason with less than three minutes left in the fight.

The UFC and Barcelos' team have yet to reveal what caused the incident, but the veteran fighter shared his first words in the comment section of a UFC Brasil post on social media.

“Hey everyone, I just want to let you all know that I'm doing great, and as soon as I can, I'll send a video to all of you,†Barcelos wrote in Portuguese. “Thank you so much for everyone's love, support, and prayers! I promised a great fight, and I delivered on that promise. Thank God, and thank you to everyone who fought alongside me, both inside and outside that cage.â€

On Sunday, just hours after the fight, Barcelos' head coach Davi Ramos released a statement to comfort fans, saying the athlete was “conscious†and under medical care in Las Vegas.

“Raoni is doing well,†Ramos said Sunday. “He has all his senses, he's moving his leg, his arm, his hand, he's conscious, he's talking, everything is fine with him. He's undergoing some tests, and pretty soon he'll be here to talk to you guys.â€

“I just wanted to let you know so you can all stay calm,†he continued. “Keep praying for him. He's undergoing all the tests that are standard in a situation like this. He'll have to rest because of what happened, but God willing, everything will be fine. He'll be here with us soon and he'll be talking to you guys. Thank you to everyone who's been sending messages, positive energy, praying and keeping all of us in your prayers.â€

Update: Ramos posted a video on social media from outside the hospital, standing next to other trainers, including Barcelos' father Laerte Barcelos, where he ruled out a stroke and heart attack. There's still no official work on what caused the issue.

“He did not have a stroke, it wasn't a heart attack, nothing like that, but we still don't have an explanation for what happened,†Ramos said. “We're waiting for the results of the other tests. But he is doing well.â€

Laerte joked that his son is desperate to be discharged from the hospital. According to his team, Raoni Barcelos is expected to post a video statement on social media soon.

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Alexander Volkanovski, Movsar Evloev recount past training session ahead of UFC 333 title fight

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7 hours ago

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September 28, 2026

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Alexander Volkanovski, Movsar Evloev recount past training session ahead of UFC 333 title fight

LOS ANGELES – Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev have taken a long road to the championship main event of UFC 333, but that won't be the first time the featherweights have crossed paths.

MMA Fighting's José Young spoke to Volkanovski and Evloev during UFC 331 fight week in Los Angeles, and learned more about how the fighters trained together years ago when Volkanovski was on his way to the top of the 145-pound division, while Evloev was wrapping up a run as M-1 bantamweight champion.

“I used to be a bantamweight at that time, it was before UFC,†Evloev said. “We just had a couple of rounds and yeah, we trained at the same gym before. Now he has his own gym in Thailand.

“He had just fought with [Chad] Mendes and he was about to fight with [Jose] Aldo.â€

Fast forward to now, Volkanovski is in his second reign as featherweight champion, having lost just once in his illustrious career when competing at 145 pounds. On the other side, Evloev has never been defeated, having boosted his pro record to 20-0 with a majority decision win over Lerone Murphy this past March.

Volkanovski recalls working with Evloev, but isn't dwelling on the past.

“I do remember us training, it was a long time ago,†Volkanovski said. “You can't go off training sessions then. As he said, he would have been young. All I worry about is how he's been looking in his last few performances.

“I think I know a few of the people he knows as well, so there's no ill feeling toward each other, he's a good dude, I've got a lot of respect for him, but come Oct. 24, we're going to go handle business and I plan on showing him that I'm the man.â€

Soon to be 38, Volkanovski is still competing at an elite level, having bounced back from a loss to Ilia Topuria with back-to-back title fight wins over Diego Lopes. Evloev hopes to see the best version of Volkanovski on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi, so the discussion in the aftermath is more about his ascendance than Volkanovski's decline.

“I'm expecting him to be at this level that when I beat him, nobody will say he's not like before,†Evloev said. “‘He's still good, but this guy is special.' I used to beat champions before UFC and when I beat them, people used to say, ‘OK, they wasn't that good like before. Maybe they get old or did not have good camps.' But I don't want to hear this one again, so I want him to be in his prime, in the best condition, so I can show my skills.â€

Volkanovski is promising to be at his best when he faces Evloev, though the challenger might regret what he's wishing for.

“I truly do believe after this fight, people will be saying, ‘That's one of Alex's best performances we've seen,'†Volkanovski said. “Does that mean I'm in my prime? Does that mean this is the best Volk that there ever was? No, I'm not saying that, but I'm saying stylistically in the fight I'm going to bring, I truly believe people will be saying that this is the best version of Alex they've ever seen.â€

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MMA

Dana White baffled by Max Kellerman’s Fury-Joshua claim

Published

9 hours ago

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September 28, 2026

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Dana White baffled by Max Kellerman’s Fury-Joshua claim
Dana
White was left bemused by Max Kellerman's explanation of his
role in the Tyson
Fury-Anthony
Joshua saga.

Fury and Joshua are scheduled to meet Dec. 11 at Principality
Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, with the bout set to stream on Netflix.
The matchup was announced by the streaming juggernaut as a
collaboration between Turki Alalshikh and White's Zuffa Boxing.
However, Joshua's camp and Eddie Hearn seemingly aren't on
board.

Dana White disputes Max Kellerman's description of his role in
Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua

Kellerman claimed during the Zuffa Boxing 11 broadcast that White's
involvement isn't as a promoter but rather in an assisting role to
Alalshikh.

“Dana White's involvement in the fight, so people know, is purely
in assisting Turki Alalshikh, who has been the engine behind just
about every big fight in boxing over the last handful of years,â€
Kellerman said. “He's assisting Turki in a personal capacity, not
as a promoter.â€

White was subsequently asked about Kellerman's comments, and the

Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO revealed that he had no idea
what the analyst-commentator was talking about.

“I don't know where that came from,†White said. “That was weird.
We're promoting the fight right now. I've said 150,000 times I
don't know if I've ever known anybody who's more full of f*cking
shit than Eddie Hearn.â€

Hearn has previously emphasized that White should not be involved
in the fight, while Netflix's announcement identified the UFC boss
as a key part of the event. A press conference for Fury-Joshua is
expected to take place Wednesday, Sept. 30, although White wasn't
forthcoming about whether he plans to attend.

“I guess I'll leave that as a surprise,†White said.

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