Footage of Conor McGregor looking unsteady on his way to the Octagon has gone viral after his long-awaited UFC return ended in disaster on Saturday night.

After five years away from the sport, McGregor, 37, finally made his comeback at a sold-out T-Mobile Arena, but there would be no fairytale ending for his die-hard fans who had made the journey to Las Vegas.

Instead, the Irishman suffered a nightmare knee injury after sprinting out and throwing a kick that missed Max Holloway, causing the fight to be stopped in 69 seconds.

It proved a miserable evening for McGregor as he limped out of his first bout since July 2021, when he broke his leg in an equally anticlimactic clash with Dustin Poirier.

However, fans have claimed that he was already injured before his showdown with Holloway in Sin City after a clip of him making his way to the Octagon sparked conspiracy theories online.

In the video, McGregor is seen hopping awkwardly after taking his right shoe off, before cautiously putting his right foot back down on the ground.

One user shared the footage on X and wrote: 'Conor McGregor, walked in injured, watch him taking off his shoes before the fight.'

'Hurt in warm ups and tried to hide it. The knee never lies,' said another.

A third speculated: 'I think he tweaked it taking his shoes off, and it went completely out when he did the kick.'

While a fourth put: 'There is a legitimate chance he hurt his knee taking that shoe off'.

Yet following the defeat, McGregor rubbished 'nonsense' claims that he was injured heading into his fight against Holloway.

'I was so sharp and so ready for this fight I cannot believe what has happened. The talk of me being off while walking in to the fight is nonsense,' he wrote on X early Sunday morning. 

'I was calm, ready, and confident. I am in shock what has taken place. The devil is literally staring at me right in front of my face here. I am not engaging. I will be at church tomorrow. I will overcome this. I will not be deterred. I will return.' 

McGregor's defeat brings a thoroughly deflating end to a five-year comeback that had been billed as one of the biggest events in UFC history - and will fuel fresh questions over whether his body can hold up at the top level.

His last appearance in the Octagon ended in gruesome fashion at UFC 264, when he suffered a broken leg against Poirier that required emergency surgery and a lengthy road back. 

The years since brought further disruption, including injury withdrawals, an 18-month suspension for missed drug tests, backdated to September 2024 and only expiring this year, and a Dublin civil jury finding him liable in November 2024 for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand, for which he was ordered to pay $260,000 in damages.

Saturday's result - a fresh injury sustained on the very first kick of his comeback - will raise immediate and painful questions about what, if anything, comes next for a 37-year-old whose career now carries almost as much baggage outside the Octagon as inside it.