The Holloway Takedowns
In only his second UFC fight, McGregor came up against future champion Max Holloway, who was also on his way to stardom.
The early exchanges were on the feet as you’d expect from two razor-sharp strikers. But disaster struck for McGregor in the second round when he felt his knee pop and let out a yell of pain. It would later emerge that he’d badly torn his left ACL as well as suffering an MCL strain and posterior horn meniscus tear. The injuries that required surgery and kept him out of action for the following 10 months.
However, in the heat of the moment, McGregor was purely focused on how he could still win the fight. Despite his now severely compromised movement, he demonstrated his ability to adapt on-the-fly. He switched to out-wrestling Holloway on the mat.
It didn’t bring the thrilling action fans had hoped for, but it enabled him to control Holloway from top position to ensure he would seal a unanimous decision victory and continue on a path to superstardom.
