Cartilage degeneration is the core feature of osteoarthritis (OA), while chondrocyte senescence and the related metabolic imbalance are critical reasons for the continuous progression of cartilage degeneration. Acetylation/deacetylation is one of the key mechanisms in mitochondrial quality control (MQC) and is mainly mediated by deacetylase (SIRT). In recent years, it has been found that MQC imbalance is closely related to OA chondrocyte senescence and cartilage degeneration, and SIRT1/3 is differentially expressed in normal and OA chondrocytes and participates in the regulation of MQC imbalance and senescence of OA chondrocytes. This study reviews the regulatory role of MQC in OA chondrocytes, mainly from the perspective of SIRT1/3 and cellular senescence, to sort out ideas and potential targets for subsequent studies on OA pathogenesis and therapeutics.