Will we ever see Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway 2
Conor McGregor and Max Holloway will go down as two of the greatest mixed martial artists in the featherweight division. Between both of them, both Holloway and McGregor have 35 fights inside UFC with both the fighters emerging victorious on 28 occasions. Both Max Holloway and Conor McGregor have notable victories over some of the most prominent fighters of the featherweight division. With wins over Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar, Dustin Poirier, Anthony Pettis, Cub Swanson, Brian Ortega, Jeremy Stephens, and Dennis Siver, both the fighters have ruled the featherweight division for a significant period.
While Conor McGregor moved to lightweight and then welterweight soon after his 14-second brutal victory over Jose Aldo, Max Holloway reigned the featherweight division. Soon after Aldo lost the Championship belt, he took on Frankie Edgar for the interim title. Aldo won the fight via unanimous decision to take on Max Holloway in his first title defense. However, Jose Also fell short of a victory suffering a TKO loss in the third round. Aldo failed to reclaim the gold in the rematch, suffering yet another TKO loss inside the octagon. Holloway would go on to defend his title belt against Frankie Edgar and Brian Ortega next, eventually losing to Alexander Vokanovski in a close fight at UFC 245 and then again in a controversial split decision at UFC 251.
Will there ever be a rematch between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway?
Both Max Holloway and Conor McGregor have had a healthy relationship on social media and outside the octagon. Holloway has often praised McGregor as one of the greatest of all time and has called him out several times in the past for a rematch.
Conor McGregor took on Max Holloway back in August of 2013. He won the fight via unanimous decision. However, it was interesting to note that McGregor's fight with Holloway continued to be the only fight where McGregor went the distance before going on a five-round war with Nate Diaz at UFC 202. Max Holloway had this to say about a potential match-up with Conor McGregor when the news of The Notorious making his UFC return against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 became public.
If Mystic Mac arrives and if he wants to be like what he was a couple of years ago when he was the greatest mixed martial artist in the world, and he wants to be great again, sure we're going to run in to each other,” Holloway told MMA Junkie. “If his mind is right and he wants to be the best, I'm sure we'll run into each other.
However, early this year, Conor McGregor announced his retirement from the sport. McGregor has hinted towards potential boxing bouts and has shown no interest in coming back inside the octagon. Regardless, McGregor has announced retirement multiple times in the past only to make an emphatic return. However, it's very unlikely that it will be against Max Holloway.
Max Holloway is current on a two-fight losing streak. Conor McGregor has nothing to gain from a fight against Holloway except putting his record at risk against one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Additionally, McGregor only seems to get bulkier with passing time. He has mentioned that he wants to reclaim the lightweight gold one again. However, McGregor looks incredibly tough for a Welterweight contender during his return fight against Donald Cerrone at 180.
It's very unlikely that Conor McGregor will go down featherweight to fight Max Holloway. However, Holloway has jumped to lightweight in the past. He took on Dustin Poirier for the Interim Lightweight Championship at UFC 236. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. It will be a tough fight for Holloway at lightweight against someone like Conor McGregor. Additionally, if McGregor is looking at fighting in the lightweight division, he will likely look to fight Dustin Poirier to cement his chance against Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship.
It looks like Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway might not be a possibility soon. If Conor McGregor does make his UFC return, it will be a while before both these fighter will meet inside the octagon.