Vegas Sports Report: McGregor Plans Knee Surgery As Paddy Pimblett’s Star Rises

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight Conor McGregor is expected to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on his right leg this week, a test that should reveal the extent of the knee injury that abruptly ended his long-awaited comeback at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on Saturday night (July 11).

Then it’s onto surgery, rehabilitation, and another UFC fight, McGregor said in an Instagram post this morning (July 13).

McGregor Awaits MRI Results

Up to the point of the injury, the 20,000 watching live at T-Mobile Arena and those streaming it on Paramount were being treated to a vastly entertaining UFC card, particularly the emergence of Paddy Pimblett into official, bankable star status as a Top 5 talent. Pimblett transitioned from a guillotine choke on France’s Benoit Saint Denis to a D’Arce choke, ending that lightweight division fight in just over a minute.

That was after the most energetic walkout of all the fighters that night. Few can get a crowd jacked up like Pimblett.

Fight Ends Abruptly

Then McGregor, for his welterweight fight with Max Holloway, confidently walked into the arena and, on the opening horn, inexplicably launched a jumping roundhouse kick. That was a move that Joe Rogan said during the broadcast was “crazy”.

At 37, five years after his previous fight against Dustin Poirier, where he broke his left leg, McGregor landed awkwardly on the right leg and tried to keep fighting. Commentators said McGregor couldn’t seem to get any traction. McGregor grabbed his knee, hit the canvas, got up, and tried another kick.

Referee Mike Beltran called the fight when he could see that McGregor couldn’t land properly.

Pimblett Seizes Spotlight

“That’s just a massive, massive bummer,” said Rogan.

Daniel Cormier, the former MMA fighter and now broadcaster, said McGregor came out like he was “shot out of a cannon”, made a miscalculation with the kick, blaming his long absence from the sport.

McGregor was stunned, emotional. 

“My head gasket is gone. Destroyed. I had no injury/injuries going into the fight,” he wrote on X afterwards.

ACL Injury?

Some in the crowd booed as he limped out of the Octagon, possibly for good. Holloway talked about a third fight between the two in the future (McGregor had beaten him in a three-round unanimous decision in 2013).

Post-fight, UFC CEO Dana White said they are “assuming a blown ACL”. If the injury is confirmed as that, McGregor is looking at nine months away from fighting, according to the typical recovery time provided by the Cleveland Clinic. If it’s damaged meniscus cartilage, recovery could take four weeks to nine months, depending on whether it’s a partial or full tear.

Sportsbooks Cash In

Sportsbooks cashed in big. At BetMGM, going in, most bet fight (tickets) was Holloway versus McGregor, most bet fighter to win, both tickets and handle, was McGregor (+220), and the most bet prop (tickets) was McGregor by KO/TKO or DQ (+250).

For Pimblett, looking forward, the future suddenly looks wide open.

“The new boy is in town,” he told UFC.com while watching the McGregor situation play out live. Any fight he takes will be an event. Could that be Charles Oliveira? A rematch with Justin Gaethje? Or maybe a grudge match with Ilia Topuria?

A’s Add Top Prospect

Major League Baseball (MLB) held its draft over the weekend (July 11-12), and all eyes in Las Vegas were on the Oakland Athletics, scheduled to move into their new $2 billion stadium on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard for the 2028 season.

The A’s have struggled this season, sitting at 41-55 in the American League West, eight games out of first place and 6.5 games out of the American League Wild Card race.

With the No. 8 pick, the A’s chose centre fielder Drew Burress out of Georgia Tech. Buzz around Burress had cooled a bit after some analysts had been projecting him to be chosen higher. The 5-foot-9 Burress has been one of the most productive hitters in college baseball over three seasons at Georgia Tech, batting .357.

Vegas Stadium Takes Shape

As ESPN pointed out, the A’s – soon to be the Las Vegas Athletics – have been extremely adept at drafting and developing young talent since 2020, names that fans in Las Vegas will soon be familiar with. Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom and Max Muncy, all first-round picks, plus Gage Jump, a second-round pick, are already with the major league club.

ESPN said to look for Burress to be on a fast track to the major leagues, further complementing that Las Vegas team corps.

And on the stadium front, while still a construction site, local media reporting yesterday (July 12) said crews are installing massive steel roof arches that will support the fully enclosed, climate-controlled 33,000-seat stadium. The future location of the home plate is also taking shape.

NBA Expansion Buzz

On the National Basketball Association (NBA) front, Commissioner Adam Silver will hold his annual summer-time news conference tomorrow (July 14) after the NBA Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas. The Summer League, the NBA’s showcase of top young talent selected in the recent draft, is taking place throughout the week in Las Vegas, wrapping up this Sunday (July 19).

Among the primary topics of discussion tomorrow afternoon at Silver’s media availability will be adding teams in Las Vegas and Seattle, following the Board of Governors’ formal approval of the process earlier this year.

The timeline for awarding expansion franchises, national media rights deals, further international growth of the sport, salary cap, and the topic of gambling integrity and sports betting, with the Malik Beasley and Terry Rozier court cases playing out, will be some of the topics.

Silver Speaks Tuesday

Potential ownership groups have already stepped forward. A group headed by Jerry Colangelo, which claims to have $8 billion committed to finance both the franchise and a basketball-centric, multi-purpose sports, entertainment and convention venue, is generating a lot of buzz around the city.

Bill Foley, the owner of the NHL Vegas Golden Knights, a league success story with a Stanley Cup win already under their belts (2023), has stepped forward with a plan to house an NBA team in T-Mobile Arena along with the hockey team.

Other potential bids include one headed up by NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, with plans for a new resort project to house a team.

More news tomorrow, after the Silver presser.