Max Holloway and Conor McGregor headline UFC 329 this Saturday with Holloway looking to avenge a 13-year-old loss. To do so, he may have to show off his complete skill set, according to Belal Muhammad.
“Remember the Name” broke down the upcoming main event on his YouTube channel, suggesting that it might not be the standup duel fans are expecting. While Holloway and McGregor are both known for their spectacular knockouts and classic striking battles, if Holloway is to even the series, he may have to mix the martial arts in a way that throws McGregor off his game.
“Max, last fight, obviously lost to [Charles] Oliveira, got taken down a lot, got held down a lot, controlled on the ground,” Muhammad said. “I don’t think we’re going to see any of that with McGregor, so I think it’s going all going to take [place] primarily on the feet. I think the probably the person that should initiate the grappling should be Holloway.
“We don’t know where McGregor is. He’s definitely added a lot of muscle on his body, so his cardio’s going to get trained. So for Holloway, I would definitely add in a takedown to wear on him, to get past that first three or four minutes. I think that first three or four minutes, McGregor’s going to come out hot. He knows, when he was at the top, his cardio was a problem. Now five years off, extra muscle, higher weight class, I think his cardio’s going to be even a bigger problem. So for Holloway, survive those first two, three minutes, even initiating the clinch, just stay away from the left hand. Even if you don’t believe it, even if you don’t think he still has it, just stay away. There’s no need, it’s a 25-minute fight.”
Holloway suffered a disappointing defeat in his most recent fight at UFC 326, where he was soundly out-grappled by Charles Oliveira over five rounds en route to losing a decision and the “BMF” championship. Though Holloway has shown grappling acumen in the past, it’s primarily been used defensively to keep fights on the feet as opposed to grounding his opponents (only two of Holloway’s 27 career victories have come by way of submission).
Ironically, McGregor won their first meeting via decision in 2013 by using his grappling to slow Holloway after McGregor suffered a knee injury during the contest. Muhammad doesn’t expect to see that well-rounded version of McGregor this time around, especially with the former two-division champion having been sidelined for five years, a hiatus from competition that begin in 2021 after McGregor broke his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier.
“Long five years, a crazy five years if you’re living the McGregor lifestyle,” Muhammad said. “So which Conor are we going to see back in this cage? Obviously, the last time we saw him, Dustin broke his leg, so just coming back from that is going to be hard, but coming back from that, then coming back from drugs, then coming back from partying, then coming back from probably not doing anything sort of training at all the last five years, which McGregor is going to show up?
“I don’t think we’re going to know until the cage door locks and we see at least three minutes, then we’ll have an idea of which McGregor we got. Is he still there, does he still have any fight left in him, does he still have any motivation left in him? He can talk the talk, we know he can talk, but fight night is where we see if he still has it.”
Muhammad’s advice for Holloway doesn’t mean he thinks “Blessed” will simply wrestle his way to a win. But with McGregor’s fighting shape and mentality in question, Muhammad expects any scenario that lasts beyond the the first few minutes to end in a Holloway victory.
“For my pick, I’m going with Holloway,” Muhammad said. “I think five years off, five years of drugs, five years of recovery, it’s going way too much for McGregor to come back.
“Holloway’s hot, I think he’s going to be motivated after that loss and more motivated now even after Justin won that fight knowing that a bigger fight will be on the horizon. I’m picking Holloway and going with finish. I think he’s going to hurt him to the body, catch him up top, and I’m going to go with TKO.”
