For years, fans have wondered when — and if — Conor McGregor would step back into the Octagon. The wait ends on July 11, when McGregor will face former foe Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329.
McGregor’s return comes five years and one day after he suffered a broken tibia against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. That broken tibia resulted in McGregor losing by TKO to Poirier in back-to-back fights. It also ran McGregor’s record to 1-3 since he won the lightweight championship by knocking out Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division champion at UFC 205 in November 2016.
McGregor is looking to prove he’s still the same elite pound-for-pound fighter that grabbed a second title against Alvarez nearly a decade ago, recent results be damned. He’ll look to display that proof against Holloway, who McGregor defeated in 2013 in what was just the Irishman’s second trip to the Octagon.
Speaking with CBS’ Nate Burleson, McGregor made it clear he doesn’t believe much has changed since that first meeting, other than that this fight will take place at the welterweight limit of 170 pounds, rather than the featherweight 145-pound limit where they met all those years ago.
“Max is a durable fighter with great skill,” McGregor stated. “Not on my level, however. I am a level above. In fact, multiple levels above. … Skill wise, mental wise, physical wise. We’re at 170 pounds. There’s a few facets to this. Max has been a busybody in the game. In fact, he has the most time spent inside the Octagon, eight and a half hours, which is a staggering amount of time.
“For me, I kind of look at that saying, ‘it means you can’t finish people.’ However, he’s never fought at 170 pounds. This is a 170-pound bout. I have gone from the smaller weights up to the 170-pound, and it takes adjusting. So I look at it like I have experience in this. Although he may have been busier, he hasn’t been busy at this weight, and he hasn’t been busy against me. So there are many facets of this fight that are interesting, and I’m sure the fans are very excited for it.”
In the time McGregor has been sidelined, Holloway has fought eight times, with five of those opponents having held interim or undisputed UFC gold in their career.
Still, McGregor insists that won’t be a problem while also noting that “Max didn’t lay a glove on me” in the first meeting.
McGregor took that first fight by decision, outlanding Holloway 71 to 32 in total strikes while also completing four of five takedown attempts. In the rest of his UFC career, McGregor has only secured a single takedown.
Furthering McGregor’s confidence heading into the fight is that he feels as though Holloway has not changed as a fighter since that night in 2013, that any potential improvements came from lifting McGregor’s moves.
“I don’t really see it. I don’t see vast improvements,” McGregor stated. “In fact, the improvements he made was after the fight he had with me, where he adopted some of my moves. But then what did he do? We went on to win the world title. So I sonned Max when I fought him last and I plan on doing the same again in more devastating fashion.”
McGregor is also hoping that Holloway looks for a repeat of his iconic UFC 300 knockout of Justin Gaethje (who recently became lightweight champion at UFC Freedom 250). On that night, Holloway had thrashed Gaethje on the feet, and in the final seconds of the fifth round, pointed to the canvas in the center of the Octagon, inviting the dangerous Gaethje to slug it out to the final horn.
Instead of the horn sounding, Holloway put Gaethje to sleep with just one second left in their BMF championship match.
McGregor claims that move as his own and welcomes the opportunity to engage in such a moment.
“I am the founder,” McGregor stated. “I am the founder of this approach. So let’s do it, bring it on. I’m ready. In fact, I created it. So I’m excited. I hope it happens. Boom.”
