Conor McGregor obviously has a lot riding on his comeback fight against Max Holloway at UFC 329.
It’s been five years since McGregor last competed in the UFC after he suffered a gruesome broken leg in his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier. While the Irish superstar was supposed to return in 2024, a broken toe kept McGregor from actually facing Michael Chandler. Even after that injury healed, there was still no word about him booking another fight.
It wasn’t until recently that UFC CEO Dana White announced McGregor was finally set for his return to action against Holloway on July 11. But retired UFC contender Matt Brown argues that as much as winning matters in this fight, McGregor just making it to the fight probably matters more.
“If he doesn’t make this walk, I think it’s going to be unanimous agreement he’s done and he’s never fighting again,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “If he doesn’t go in there and win, I think it’s going to be a unanimous agreement that no one wants to see him fight again either. Even if he looks good.
“That doesn’t mean people won’t watch when he fights again. That’s putting a lot of ‘ifs’ in there. He goes in, he actually fights Max Holloway, he loses, I don’t see anybody really interested in seeing him fight again. Of course, everybody will watch. He’s a big enough star, he could fight and lose the next five or 10 times and people will still watch. He’s a big enough star, that’s what’s going to happen, but the interest will wane hugely if he doesn’t make this walk and find a way to win. It’s a lot of pressure on his side.”
While McGregor has never fallen out of the public spotlight during his five-year hiatus from the sport, he’s still best known as a fighter and for all the amazing accomplishments he achieved at the height of his powers. Now, McGregor returns with far more questions than answers about his future, especially taking a fight against somebody like Holloway, who has been incredibly active while competing at the top of two divisions for the past few years.
There’s certainly no shame in anybody losing to Holloway, but Brown believes McGregor is definitely taking a huge gamble with this fight versus his original matchup against Chandler from 2024.
“If Conor makes this walk, hypothetically, which he may — he could totally prove me wrong. I don’t think he will but let’s say he makes the walk,” Brown said. “Whether he wins or loses, I have to have some respect for Conor for taking the fight against Max Holloway. A known killer who has had a ton of success since last time they fought. If he goes in and makes that walk, that’s a gigantic risk for him.
“I’m sure he understands what’s on the line for him. If he loses this fight, his relevance as a fighter drops dramatically. We’ll watch, he could fight another 10 times, I’m sure everyone would watch. But his relevance as a world-class competitor, pretty much drops off the map. Any fights he does after that is kind of like influencer fights or something along those lines.”
On the flipside, if McGregor can pull off the upset and beat Holloway after five years away, the narrative about his future changes completely.
Beating Chandler might be a nice win, but defeating Holloway at this stage of his career would be a huge checkmark on McGregor’s résumé and immediately alters the thinking about what comes next.
“If he goes in and wins, he puts himself back in the conversation of a top 10 guy,” Brown said about McGregor. “It’s at 170, so I don’t know if they’d talk about the top 10 at 170 or whatever. But the conversation is he’s a legit fighter still.
“Even through all the partying and alcohol and drugs and everything he’s done in the meantime, he came back and he beat Max Holloway. That’s a respectable thing to do. So I think this is a gigantic risk for Conor.”
That said, Brown believes McGregor absolutely has a path to victory in this fight – assuming it happens – and the UFC isn’t crazy for putting this matchup together in the first place.
“I can see the argument where you think Conor would have a good chance,” Brown said. “For one, it’s at 170 and Conor has good power at 170. Max is hittable. He’s certainly a hittable guy. Conor has a win over him in the past. Max has been through the ringer. He’s got a lot of miles on those tires. I can see where you can make that argument where it’s not the worst [matchup].
“But I think a lot of that is going to be dependent on Max. If he comes in, puts on the weight properly and he comes in himself and feels good and he’s sharp, it’s certainly a win for Max. He has the experience advantage. He’s been staying active in the last few years. So he’s got a lot of advantages, but I’m just saying I could see where they have the argument that Conor has a good shot here. I could see where Conor would see that, too.”
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