Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway Preview and Breakdown UFC 329
Despite Conor McGregor having not fought since 2021, you can still call his UFC 329 the biggest comeback fight in recent UFC history, purely because he is that big of a mainstream megastar. Beyond all of the controversy, the legal issues and the bravado, McGregor is still a former two-division UFC Champion and dangerous striker, so despite the oddsmakers seeing him as the underdog, he may well still have the ability to show he can hang at the highest level.
There are a few different elements of this fight that make it more intriguing (especially because it is at welterweight and not Lightweight). The Irish star hasn’t had his hand raised since January 2020 (against Donald Cerrone) and he is coming off of a five-year layoff, but Holloway is moving up two weight classes to get this fight (from featherweight to welterweight). Plus, McGregor already has a win over Max. Granted, that win was back in August 2013 and both fighters have changed dramatically since then, but you know full well that McGregor will be bringing that up every second he can pre-fight to get in Holloway’s head.
McGregor vs Holloway – The Stylistic Matchup
This is going to be about McGregor’s power vs Holloway’s volume. Max is prolific when it comes to his output, managing around 6.91 significant strikes a minute (via ufcstats.com). Granted, only 48% of his strikes land, but it’s the amount he is able to dish out over 25 minutes that makes him a cardio machine, and that volume gets overwhelming very quickly for any opponent, let alone someone who has been inactive for 5 years.
Where McGregor has the chance to win is in his power. ‘Notorious’ has fought at Welterweight before, but he had the knockout power even when he fought at 155lb. McGregor is going to have to try and finish this quickly, because after 5 years he isn’t going to have the tank that ‘Blessed’ has (arguably in his prime he didn’t have the cardio that Max has, but then not many do).
| Metric | McGregor | Holloway |
|---|---|---|
| Sig. strikes landed/min | 5.32 | 6.91 |
| Striking accuracy | 49% | 48% |
| Strikes absorbed/min | 4.66 | 4.61 |
| Striking defense | 54% | 58% |
| Takedown defense | 66% | 81% |
How Max Holloway wins this fight
Holloway is going to try and pepper McGregor for the full 25 minutes. I don’t see Max trying for takedowns, this is going to be another showcase of his striking abilities (if the fight goes his way of course). Holloway will not fade in the later rounds, and I can easily see him taking this to a decision by overwhelming McGregor and not giving him any breathing room.
Max Holloway wins this fight by keeping the volume up and not allowing McGregor the chance to get any big shots in.
How Conor McGregor wins this fight
McGregor has to go out there and try to win this fight early. He’s got the knockout ability and he’s got the reach advantage (74″ vs 69″), so he may well be able to keep Holloway from entering striking range early on.
One aspect where McGregor is vastly underrated is his ability to create an “illusion” of his reach. There’s been so many times that he feigns the length of his jab before going in with his long reach. It has thrown off opponents in the past, but I actually think that Conor will try to show his reach straight away here to try and keep Max at range as he preps for the big punch.
Conor McGregor wins this fight by getting out of the traps early, using his reach to stop Holloway from getting inside and going for the knockout.
Jake is the Head of Audience at F4WOnline, having previously worked as a Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief and Sports Coordinator for NationalWorld. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012. His work has also been featured on Wrestling Headlines, Wrestlingnewsco, HotNewHipHop and The Hard Times.
Previously, he worked as the Editor in Chief of 24Wrestling, building the site profile with a view to selling the domain, which was accomplished in 2019. Jake was previously the Editor in Chief for FightFans, a combat sports and pro wrestling site that was launched in January 2021 and broke into millions of pageviews within the first two years. He previously worked for Snack Media and their GiveMeSport site, creating Evergreen and Trending content that would deliver pageviews via Google as the UFC and MMA SEO Lead. Jake managed to take an area of GiveMeSport that had zero traction on Organic and push it to audiences across the globe. Jake also has a record of long-term video and written interview content with the likes of the Professional Fighters League, ONE and Cage Warriors, working directly with the brands to promote bouts, fighters and special events.
He previously also worked for PROGRESS Wrestling, as PR Head and Head of Media across the social channels of the company.