Max Holloway recently offered a revealing look at Conor McGregor’s mindset during their UFC 329 main event, describing how the injured Irishman refused to stop and even urged Holloway to keep striking him.
Holloway defeated McGregor by TKO due to a knee injury at 1:09 of Round 1 on Saturday, July 11, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The welterweight bout, officially billed as UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2, ended when McGregor injured his right leg after an early high kick and could not continue, prompting referee Mike Beltran to wave it off.
Holloway said that fighting will contrast sharply with what he saw as an uncharacteristically calm, changed version of McGregor.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Holloway recounted McGregor’s reaction the moment he hit the canvas.
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,” Holloway said.
Holloway Noticed A Different McGregor
Prior to the fight, ‘Notorious’ did dozens of interviews claiming he was a changed man who had found religion and rededicated himself to training. Holloway said that the shift was visible inside the octagon.
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.
The bout marked McGregor’s first appearance since UFC 264 in July 2021, when he suffered a leg-break loss to Dustin Poirier. It also served as a rematch of the pair’s first meeting at UFC Fight Night 26 in 2013, a featherweight bout McGregor won by decision.
