Conor McGregor will finally return to the Octagon after a five year hiatus against Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11th, and the re-energized star has claimed he struck a great deal with the promotion to pave the way for his comeback.
“It’s like a musical – music to my ears, it is. I’m out so long, five years,” the 37-year-old McGregor told former Navy Seal Rob O’Neill on the MAC Energy YouTube channel. “My body’s fresh. My mind is sharp. I’m ready to come back. I’ve got a great opponent. I’ve got a great deal off the UFC. I’m very, very happy, They honored me, finally.
“July 11, and the opponent is a man I’ve beaten before in Max Holloway. He’s an established fighter, an accomplished fighter, former UFC world champion, multiple time. So this is a quality opponent, and our last bout was martial arts mastery by yours truly, so I plan on doing it again. I plan on showing my growth and my improvements in there, so I’m very, very excited for it. Preparation is going very well. We’re living, breathing and sleeping in the gym.”
Meanwhile, McGregor’s manager Audi Attar has revealed that Michael Chandler was actually the star’s first pick for his comeback fight, while revealing why they eventually settled on a rematch with Max Holloway instead.
“Conor really wanted to give that to Michael Chandler,” Attar told MMA Junkie. “He just felt Michael deserved it, having gone through the show and experienced that camp, the unfortunate injury, and the cancellation of the bout. Conor really, really wanted that to happen, and we did everything to try to push it. At the time, it just didn’t make sense for the UFC, but it doesn’t mean that it might not happen in the future. Michael has a great fight ahead of him at the White House, and we wish him the best. We want him to succeed. It can become a reality.”
“Like I said, we pushed for Chandler,” Attar continued. “That was our main focus initially. Different names surfaced in the conversations, and in the negotiations, and I think from a Max Holloway perspective, we know we got one on Max, and he wants to get that back. We know they faced each other when they were 145ers, and we know that Max is game and he’s going to put on a great performance. We just felt it was the right matchup. One of the things, obviously with being out with the time Conor has been out for, it just made sense to do it at 170, right? Max was game right away and willing to step up and take the matchup at 170.”
