Max Holloway and Conor McGregor headline UFC 329 this Saturday, with Holloway hoping to avenge the 13-year-old’s loss. According to Belal Muhammad, to do this, he may have to demonstrate his entire skill set.
“Remember the Name” teased the upcoming main event on his YouTube channel, suggesting it might not be the stand-up showdown fans are expecting. While Holloway and McGregor are known for their spectacular knockouts and classic striking fights, if Holloway wants to even the score, he may have to mix up his martial arts in a way that knocks McGregor out of the game.
“Max, obviously lost the last fight to (Charles) Oliveira, got into a lot of fights, held back a lot, controlled on the ground,” Muhammad said. “I don’t think we’ll see anything like that with McGregor, so I think it’s going to be on the feet first. I think probably the person who should start the fight should be Holloway.
“We don’t know where McGregor is. He’s definitely put a lot of muscle on his body, so his cardio will need to work. So for Holloway, I would definitely add a takedown to put him on to get through those first three or four minutes. I think McGregor will come out hot for the first three or four minutes. He knows when he was at the top, his cardio was an issue. Now five years off, extra muscle, higher weight class, I think his cardio It’s going to be an even bigger problem. So for Holloway, take the first two or three minutes, even starting 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, it’s a 25-minute fight.”
Holloway suffered a disappointing loss in his last fight at UFC 326, where he lost to Charles Oliveira in five rounds en route to a decision loss and the BMF title. While Holloway has shown wrestling acumen in the past, it has primarily been used defensively to keep fights on the feet rather than to ground his opponents (only two of Holloway’s 27 career victories have come by submission).
Ironically, McGregor won their first meeting by decision in 2013, using his wrestling to slow down Holloway after McGregor suffered a knee injury during the fight. Muhammad doesn’t expect to see this well-rounded version of McGregor this time around, especially since the former two-division champion has been out for five years, entering a hiatus from competition in 2021 after McGregor suffered a broken leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier.
“It’s a long five years, a crazy five years if you live the McGregor lifestyle,” Muhammad said. “So who’s Conor are we going to see in that cage again? Obviously the last time we saw him, Dustin broke his leg, so just coming back from that is going to be tough, but coming back from that, then coming back from drugs, then coming back from partying, then coming back from probably not training at all for the last five years, and McGregor is going to show up?”
“I don’t think we’ll know until the cage door closes and we’ve seen for at least three minutes, then we’ll have an idea of what kind of McGregor we’ve got. Is he still here, is there any fight left in him, does he still have any motivation left? He can say what he says, we know he can talk, but fight night is where we’ll see if he still has it.”
Muhammad’s advice to Holloway doesn’t mean he thinks “Blessed” will just struggle to win. But given McGregor’s fighting form and mentality, Muhammad expects any scenario that lasts longer than the first few minutes to end with Holloway winning.
“I choose Holloway,” Muhammad said. “I think five years off, five years on drugs, five years in recovery is too much for McGregor to come back.
“Holloway is hot, I think he’ll be motivated after this loss and even more motivated now, even after Justin won this fight, knowing there’s a bigger fight on the horizon. I’m going for Holloway and I’m going to throw a punch. I think he’s going to hit him with a body shot, get him on top and I’m going to TKO him.”