Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway Rematch In the Balance After UFC Chief Comments

Conor McGregor is never short of a word or two to say about his fellow MMA fighters, and this week he’s taken aim at Max Holloway, the man the Irish loudmouth beat in 2013, ahead of the American’s clash with Yair Rodriguez in UFC Vegas 42.

33-year-old McGregor lost his last two fights against Dustin Poirier, and there has been talk of a rematch with Holloway, which may well be the hook that Conor is using to fuel his amusing barrages against him.

Discussing talk of Holloway’s abilities led to McGregor taking to Twitter;

“Max is big time! Can’t wait to watch this day show at the apex. The fighter that has absorbed the most head strikes in @ufc history competes tonight. Max Holloway. Can’t wait to watch. Best boxer, my ass crack.” 

“The guys been smacked the most smacks in UFC history! Most shots absorbed is not best boxer guys I’m sorry, and I love the kid.” McGregor added.

Holloway went on to defeat Rodriguez by unanimous decision to bring him to a 23-6 record. 

Conor McGregor is a Sports Betting Dream

Talk of a fight between Holloway and McGregor is sure to be something of a media construct and one that the MMA and UFC will be keen to push. Whenever the mercurial fighter is involved, the amount of betting action, especially within the US explodes. Since not every state in the US allows online betting, the interest for the best offshore sportsbooks for US players grows rapidly. Bookies are fighting over each other to lure more betters to participate, offering them great bonuses and promising big gains. 

Basically, Conor is box office gold and remains so, even after his recent defeats. Betting odds are still in his favor meaning people love to bet on him and expect to see him win. In many ways, he’s the golden goose of the sport, and he’s going nowhere, but a fight with Holloway won’t be happening any time soon, at least according to UFC president Dana White;

“I don’t know what’s next for Max, It does make sense to see him and Volkanovski again, but we’ll get that figured out. Conor’s not even [ready to fight]. Conor’s still hurt. To even talk about Conor is silly.”

While it’s true that controversy follows McGregor wherever he goes, he’s still an individual that the UFC needs in order to create a buzz and bookies need matches like these to attract new bettors. There’s no other fighter in the business that generates headlines and interest than the Dubliner. 

Double-Edged Sword

That’s something of a double-edged sword for White and the UFC; on the one hand, it’s good to have such a big character helping to sell your product, but on the other hand, you have to basically accept the somewhat hellish rollercoaster that brings with it.

Wherever McGregor goes, a story inevitably follows. Just this week, there was another breaking piece of gossip revolving around the 22-6 fighter, and this relates to an incident that took place as far back as 2016.

Apparently, McGregor happened to be staying in the same hotel as Jose Aldo, who he’d beaten the previous year and chose to send the Brazilian an ‘intimate’ gift, and we’ll let Jose tell the story;

” When I fought Frankie Edgar and won the title again, (McGregor and I) were staying at the same hotel, side by side. He saw me, and even sent a gift congratulating me for the belt I had just won,” 

“That was intimate, brother. He knows that he sent it to my room. I see no problem with that. It was a way of trying to show love for me and my family. It was really intimate. It was nice, it was nice.

“I don’t know what his intentions were, right? But it was nice.” Also cryptically concluded.

Clearly, this leaves us all wondering quite what that ‘intimate’ gift could have been, and it’s that mixture of bizarre and bewildering behavior that makes McGregor the car crash that keeps giving. 

McGregor On The Attack

McGregor has also found time to launch into a scathing attack on Jorge Masvidal, which in turn led to Kamaru Usman laying into Conor, leading to a predictable return via Twitter.

“Ye you’re missing something bro for sure. Don’t quite know what tho. Originality maybe? I don’t know, something. It’s like, nobody cares. No one cares what the fuck you’re at. And you try so hard too, I just don’t know. Somethings missing for you tho for sure. God bless anyway”

The questions about when, or indeed if, McGregor will return to the octagon persist. He’s still recovering from the broken leg he suffered in his second loss to Poirier and is still recovering, and there’s a 2022 return penciled in, but pretty much anything could happen before that, so don’t hold your breath.