Robert Whittaker expressed sympathy for Conor McGregor following the Irish star's disastrous return to the Octagon at UFC 329.
McGregor's first fight in five years ended in devastating fashion on Saturday night in Las Vegas, as he suffered a serious knee injury while throwing an opening kick in the main event against Max Holloway.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, former UFC middleweight champion Whittaker weighed in on the incident and suggested several possible explanations for the injury.
"It sucks. Everything that could go wrong went wrong," Whittaker said. "If he was injured prior to the fight, would he have done that kick? Like, I know I've gone into fights with LCL tears and MCL tears and brother, I'm not jumping switch kicking if I've got one."
Whittaker also floated the possibility that McGregor may have entered the bout with a pre-existing issue.
"Unless he knew, and he needed a way to get out," he added. "Or maybe it was just a freak accident."
The former champion emphasized the physical demands of mixed martial arts and the challenges fighters face when returning after extended layoffs.
"The game isn't… it's not one of those games you can just take off time and come back," Whittaker said. "You need that contact constantly. Your body's primed and ready."
Whittaker pointed to his own recent return as an example, noting that despite taking a year away from competition before making his light heavyweight debut against Nikita Krylov at UFC 329, he remained active in training throughout his absence.
"That's why, even though it took me a year to come back to the cage, I was training the whole time, you know, working my way into light heavyweight," he said. "I wasn't just doing nothing, because you need your body ready and hard to get used to just the stress that you put it under."
Whittaker suggested that even if McGregor had practiced the technique extensively during training camp, the intensity of a live fight environment may have contributed to the injury.
"He may have trained that kick a million times throughout the camp, but with the nerves, the adrenaline, maybe he jumps a little bit too far, maybe he jumps a little bit too high," Whittaker said. "There's so many what-ifs and whatnot."
Despite the unfortunate outcome, Whittaker said he hopes McGregor can eventually recover and move forward.
"But I feel for the guy," he said. "Everything that could go wrong did, and I hope maybe he comes out of it the other end better for it somehow."
