As he navigates his future in the UFC and beyond, Conor McGregor increasingly finds himself under scrutiny after the debacle three weeks ago. Attempting a high kick in the opening seconds of his return bout at UFC 329, McGregor landed on his right knee, which buckled under pressure. As a result, the fight was called off at 69 seconds of the first round, and Max Holloway was awarded a win by TKO. With McGregor continuing to contest the decision, speculation surrounding a potential comeback by next year has continued.

The Irishman himself floated the idea of a return bout on the International Fight Week card in late June or early July 2027 a few days ago. However, the latest development saw a sports medicine specialist breaking down the severity of McGregor’s injury and his hopes of a 2027 return.

“The most recent exercise video we saw was [Conor McGregor] just cranking it out on this rower,” Brian Sutterer, MD, said on his YouTube channel. “I mean, like, you would look at this and not even know which knee was injured. Like, this range of motion to get that deep into flexion is fantastic. To be able to push off like that, seemingly pretty equal through both knees. Again, like quad activation looks fantastic. Doesn’t seem to be even the slightest bit of swelling in his knee. Either Conor is like a superhuman, or this is just extremely atypical for your usual kind of run-of-the-mill ACL tear this quick after suffering the injury.

“The other important part of this to consider is that Conor’s plan is to return for International Fight Week in 2027,” he added. “Now, yes, professional athletes can heal at pretty quick rates. They have access to the best surgeons, the best rehabilitation teams, but that puts this at, like, at this point under a year recovery. Most ACL surgeries will be a 9 to 12-month recovery period. And so part of why I’m also looking at this and wondering what’s going on, like why there’s a delay, is because if the plan is truly to come back for International Fight Week in 2027, like, every week matters here.”

Dr. Sutterer’s concerns follow the update McGregor shared last week. Writing about his injury on X, the Irishman had stated, “It was ACL and meniscus.” Taking that into account, the doctor likely felt that much time had elapsed since McGregor suffered his injury. The event took place on July 11. So three weeks have already passed.

According to the sports medicine specialist, if a fighter who tore his ACL undergoes surgery after two weeks, then the recovery begins almost immediately when compared to another fighter who waits for eight weeks, pushing the rehab clock back by six weeks.

Dr. Sutterer also pointed to the recovery time McGregor took after the first fight with Holloway back in 2013. While he won the bout by a unanimous decision, McGregor had torn his ACL. The subsequent procedure and recovery kept him out of the cage for ten months.

In his social media message, McGregor highlighted the same point, saying, “It is the same injury as the first Holloway fight, only this time the opposite leg. Quite shocking.”

So Conor McGregor’s current post-injury activities forced Dr. Sutterer to wonder whether the former two-division UFC champion had a full ACL rupture.

“It’s very possible that this is an ACL sprain that hopefully doesn’t need a full ACL reconstruction,” he speculated. “And so, I think that would be the best-case scenario, that the ACL is injured but not to the point that it needs surgery.

“I don’t know why they would still be waiting to go in and do surgery on the meniscus if the meniscus needed surgery. And again, it doesn’t appear they’re waiting for another ligament injury to heal and to recover.”

Dr. Sutterer also made it clear that he was not suspecting the 38-year-old of making things up in any way. There could be several underlying factors that might have led to his surgery being delayed.

Time is becoming Conor McGregor’s biggest opponent

His primary concern centered around the timeline that has been suggested for McGregor’s comeback fight. Framed as the former champion’s “Last Dance,” it is speculated to happen by summer 2027.

Dr. Sutterer felt that it leaves a very short window of recovery for McGregor if he does undergo the surgery to repair his ACL and meniscus. This puts the likelihood of his return at IFW 2027 in doubt.

“If Conor is truly not that worried about being back to fight next summer, then I think this is okay,” the doctor said.

Sharing his thoughts on the possibility of McGregor undergoing “prehab,” which means rehabilitation before surgery, Dr. Sutterer suggested that, while it is important, it may not be necessarily needed in the case of athletes competing at an elite level.

That may essentially mean surgeons prioritizing the competition timeline more heavily than they would for a recreational athlete.

In his message, McGregor spoke about medical advancements that could make it possible for him to return by summer next year. He also added how he was able to walk without a crutch and worked on a leg extension machine. So he was able to walk without any help and activate his “quad resistance.”

With that in mind, Dr. Sutterer found it a positive prognostic sign if McGregor indeed needed a full ACL reconstruction.

“This is great to see going into surgery… But again, it seems like at this point, like, things look really good. Like what’s the hold up? Why are we still waiting if the plan is for an ACL surgery?” he asked.

He concluded by making it clear that he was not trying to drive any conspiracy theories that have since emerged around McGregor’s case. He acknowledged the Irish star has a real injury to deal with.

Yet, consider the facts and information at hand; his situation and the timeline for his rumored return do not add up, Dr. Sutterer speculated.

For the time being, it is not clear when McGregor will undergo injury. But as Dr. Sutterer highlighted and others fear, time is running short if he does plan to make good on his words about a summer 2027 comeback.