Max Holloway didn’t get to exchange too many strikes with Conor McGregor at UFC 329, but they did exchange words during their fight.
Saturday’s main event ended in disappointment for McGregor, who was fighting for the first time since breaking his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Again, a McGregor leg injury proved to be his downfall, as he struggled to find his footing after throwing an opening flying kick, and never recovered. With McGregor obviously having suffered another injury, referee Mike Beltran called the fight off a little over a minute into Round 1.
In his post-fight interview, Holloway praised McGregor for wanting the fight to continue and he elaborated on the conversation speaking to reporters after the event.
“I had the man weak in the knees, I guess,” Holloway said. “All jokes aside, I just hope he’s good. I know Conor’s been battling some stuff. Looked like he’d really been changing. He found God, he had his kids in there, so during the fight you could obviously tell his demeanor changed. Shout out to the ref, I was trying to tell the ref sooner.
“This guy’s kids are front row, I don’t to see him take unnecessary damage, try and stop the fight, but this is how crazy Conor is: The first time he’s on the ground, I was punching him and he’s like, ‘Fight! Fight!’ I was like, ‘OK.’ That’s why I backed up, I said, ‘Stand up then, let’s fight.’ He fell back down and then the fight was called.”
In the lead-up to the fight, McGregor did dozens of interviews, claiming he was a changed man who had dedicated himself to religion and rededicated himself to training, following years of questionable public behavior, including numerous legal issues.
Holloway appreciates McGregor approaching their matchup with a more positive approach to fight promotion, but admitted something felt off with the former two-division champion.
“Even with him walking into the octagon, it just didn’t seem like the same Conor,” Holloway said. “He was still there to fight, but I thought he would be a little bit more rowdy, a little bit more crazy. He looked, like, really, really calm, like super calm, so I was just kind of like, ‘Oh wow, let’s see how this goes.’ Of course, I knew he was going to attack me with something and it was that kick, so it sucks.”
Holloway also used his post-fight microphone time to suggest he and McGregor meet in a trilogy, though when such a bout would take place is unclear with the severity of McGregor’s injury unknown.
One thing Holloway is confident about is that he’s unlikely to compete again in 2026.
“He was talking about this ‘170 domain,’” Holloway said, referring their fight taking place at welterweight. “I put in this 170 work. We worked our assess off here, especially after turning around so fast after that March fight and to come back. I want to feel this domain that he’s talking about, this 170 Conor that he’s talking about, this different world. That’s what I want.
“I want to see what his injury is and, as for me, I’m down to come back 2027. With that March fight and this fight, I know I came out unscathed, but I owe my family some time. I owe my wife and my son some time, some family time, so that’s what I’m focused on. You guys are going to see ‘Blessed’ return back in 2027.”
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