'550 million won per second': McGregor, who pocketed a record-breaking fight purse, suffered such a futile return "At that moment, the children were right in front of me..."

*This content was translated by AI.

In just over a minute inside the octagon, Conor McGregor (Ireland), who earned a staggering 26 million dollars (39 billion won), collapsed due to a devastating injury.

On the 12th (Korean time), at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, during the main welterweight event of 'UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2', former UFC Featherweight and BMF champion Max Holloway (USA) defeated McGregor via TKO due to a right knee injury in just 1 minute and 9 seconds of the first round.

Holloway, who had previously lost by decision to McGregor in their first matchup in 2013, achieved perfect revenge after 13 years.

According to reports from 'Yahoo Sports' and others, even before official announcements, it was widely known that McGregor's guaranteed purse alone exceeded 15 million dollars (approximately 22.5 billion won), drawing global attention. Holloway, whose purse gap was several times larger than McGregor's, also secured a substantial sum of between 3 million to 4 million dollars (approximately 6 billion won). As UFC President Dana White had publicly stated, the event drew a sold-out crowd of 20,078 spectators and generated total gate revenue of approximately 26 million dollars, setting a new all-time record for UFC gate receipts.

Thus, McGregor earned about 39 billion won in just 69 seconds — equivalent to pocketing roughly 550 million won per second.

However, the conclusion of this historic night, with astronomical stakes, was disappointing. As soon as the fight began, McGregor rushed forward attempting a flying kick but suffered significant impact to his knee due to an unstable landing. His balance immediately collapsed, and he fell to the canvas. Holloway then unleashed a barrage of pounding punches on McGregor. Although McGregor managed to rise and throw a left-hand punch, his balance failed again, and he dropped to his knees.

Notably, Holloway even noticed an abnormality in his opponent's leg and glanced at the referee. However, the fight continued. After delivering another series of pounding punches, Holloway stepped back, giving McGregor a chance to rise. When McGregor attempted to assume a fighting stance but immediately expressed severe pain upon putting weight on his right leg, the referee promptly stopped the contest.

In the post-fight press conference, Holloway conveyed the situation at the time: "McGregor's children were sitting in the very front row of the audience, so I wanted to avoid causing unnecessary harm and decided to end the fight."

He continued, "When I first started throwing punches on the ground, he was shouting 'Fight! Fight!' as if urging himself. McGregor truly seemed like a madman. So I stepped back briefly to give him a chance to get up and continue fighting, but eventually, he collapsed again."

Holloway even expressed willingness for another rematch. He insisted, "Ending it this way isn't good. We must have a third fight with McGregor."

In response, McGregor dismissed pre-fight injury rumors through his personal social networking service (SNS). He stated, "During training and backstage, I kicked and jumped just as usual. This incident was truly unexpected. It's devastating like hell, but I will overcome this challenge, refuse to surrender, and return."

Meanwhile, in the co-main event, UFC Lightweight ranked No. 6 Paddy Pimblett (England) submitted No. 5 Benoit Saint-Denis (France) via D'Arce choke technical submission just 52 seconds into the fight.

As Saint-Denis attempted to pressure with kicks and takedowns, Pimblett secured a counter guillotine grip, spun around, and perfectly applied a D'Arce choke on Saint-Denis's neck as he tried to escape, rendering him unconscious. With a professional record of 24 wins and 4 losses, Pimblett roared, "I challenge those who doubted me by calling this 'Submission of the Year.' I want rematches against Ilia Topuria or champion Justin Gaethje in my next fight."

Additionally, Gabe Stevenson (USA), the 2020 Tokyo Olympics freestyle wrestling gold medalist, secured a punch TKO victory over Alisha Ellison in his UFC debut with powerful punching combinations.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.