Dillon Danis Says Conor McGregor Was 'In a Dark Place' After UFC 329 Injury

Conor McGregor's five-year wait to fight again lasted seconds. His UFC 329 return against Max Holloway ended almost instantly with a knee injury, and according to longtime friend and training partner Dillon Danis, the fallout hit hard. Danis says McGregor was "in a dark place" in the immediate aftermath — the kind of low you'd expect from a man who built a comeback for half a decade only to watch it collapse in a heartbeat.

McGregor, 22-7 (19 KO), has since had ACL reconstruction surgery and is now holed up in Los Angeles working through rehab. Danis says he's got a 24/7 nurse on hand and is grinding through the exercises daily. The loss to Holloway, logged as a first-round TKO, snapped any momentum the Irishman hoped to carry back into the division.

From the Low Point to the Grind

Speaking to MMA Fighting's Mike Heck, Danis kept the private conversations private but didn't dress up how McGregor felt early on. He framed it as a human reaction — the biggest comeback of a career ending that fast would rattle anyone. The message now, though, is different: McGregor's head is in a better place, and Danis insists the 37-year-old is locked in.

Danis leaned on the familiar McGregor mythology to make his point, saying that when Conor fixes his mind on something, he blocks out everyone telling him he's done or that he'll never be the same. Blinders on, Danis called it. He added that he speaks to McGregor almost daily and likes what he's seeing.

What's Actually Booked

Nothing. That's the honest answer. McGregor has floated International Fight Week 2027 — typically held in July — as his target window, but there's no signed bout agreement and no opponent. He has one fight left on his current UFC contract, which gives him exactly one more official dance under the promotion as things stand.

The bigger question is whether a 37-year-old coming off a reconstructed knee and five years of ring rust can meaningfully factor into the lightweight picture at all. McGregor sits unranked, and the division hasn't waited around for him. For now it's rehab, repetition, and a target date that's still the better part of a year out. The fight talk can come later — the knee comes first.