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In his return fight at UFC 329 on Saturday, Conor McGregor is bigger than ever — literally. Ireland's own makes his comeback for a rematch against Max Holloway at welterweight, rather than in his previous division of lightweight.
The former two-division champion has been out of action since July 2021, nursing a fractured leg and dealing with legal troubles. McGregor, 37, promptly began his five-year hiatus following his second straight loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, when he suffered the injury. That was before he was found liable in a high-profile Irish civil trial in 2024 for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand. Hand claimed the Irish star raped her in a Dublin hotel room in 2018.
Now, McGregor is back for his third appearance at 170 pounds. Speaking in-studio in Las Vegas on Thursday, Chael Sonnen shared insight on "The Ariel Helwani Show" about just how noticeable McGregor's size difference is.
"I saw Conor yesterday. ... This guy's huge," Sonnen told Uncrowned. "I get up and give him the bro-hug. First off, he's as hard as a rock, and secondly, I'm looking at him, and I said, 'Conor, I fought middleweights my whole life. I didn't fight anybody smaller than you.' He said, 'Chael, I don't want to talk about my weight. I'm gonna keep my weight close, but I will tell you, for the first time ever, I've gotta pull down to 170.' If I was to guess, he's closer to 180 than he is to 170.
"If he got on top of Max, he held him the first time, and now he's a bigger, stronger guy. It's a piece of this that the bettors, the oddsmakers that nobody knew."
Throughout his time off, McGregor noticeably bulked up for his role in the “Road House” reboot alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. More recently, it was reported McGregor used performance-enhancing drugs during his time outside of competition.
The first McGregor-Holloway bout took place in 2013, with McGregor winning a unanimous decision as he ascended to the top of the featherweight division. Like Sonnen mentioned, the win was arguably the heaviest wrestling performance of McGregor's career, as he tore his ACL early in the fight and turned to his ground game.
Before the rematch was made official, McGregor attempted his return sooner, booking a bout against Michael Chandler in June 2024. However, McGregor withdrew two weeks out due to a broken pinky toe. In Holloway, he gets an opponent still considered an elite contender at lightweight.
"Why would he want Max? He's already beat him. What would get him out of bed for Max?" Sonnen asked. "I thought it was the worst possible matchup they could do. I was actually surprised that the UFC went in this direction.
"When the story is done, we're gonna talk about the three fights he had with Dustin Poirier and the two he had with Nate [Diaz], and we'll probably want one more with Nate. Oh, and by the way, it's Max again. As you're looking at his record, it's like, 'Hey, let's spread this around.' It would be so fascinating. Him and Chandler, him and [Mauricio] Ruffy. Anything new, I thought."
Ultimately, McGregor has an uphill battle. Regarding his catastrophic leg injury, it's something that's only been seen three times prior in the UFC specifically. All three times, the fighters were never the same, nor did they take as long to return.
Sonnen highlighted those aspects in particular as reasons why a McGregor win should be a near impossibility. That's not even considering the five-round element, with the bout occupying main-event status.
"Max, perhaps, has the clearest path to victory of anybody who's fought in a UFC main event in history," Sonnen said. "The most obvious sporting event of my lifetime was Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul — the most obvious outcome that we were gonna have. In UFC history for main events, Conor is not just gonna have to do something no human has done. He has to do three things. Nobody has returned to a weight class higher than their prime — and you can even go back to boxing — and looked great. Nobody had come back from a compound fracture, looked great, or even found success on their first time. Nobody has returned to a five-round proposition, and that is the biggest one.
"This is a different sport. People want to talk about [the first fight]. Does that matter to this? It was a different game. You change one rule to a game, you have a different game. Conor and Max are being asked to do something that nobody else on the card are being asked to do.
"If this was a three-round propositioned fight, there is no scenario where Conor McGregor will leave his stool for the fourth round," Sonnen continued. "I'm telling you, from a human anatomy standpoint, it can't happen. It cannot, has not, with that fracture, had enough time to train to this weight class with this layoff and see championship rounds. Will not happen."
McGregor doesn't need to fight anymore. He's made his money and accomplished all he could have during the height of his career. Because of that, his motivation has come into question ahead of this more reserved pre-fight approach he's taken.
Yet, Sonnen sees semblances of a fire after seeing McGregor firsthand. Whether it burns intensely enough will be seen on Saturday night inside the T-Mobile Arena.
"He's bitter. He's angry about Max saying he was gonna drag him into deep waters," Sonnen said. "That offended Conor McGregor. Conor said, 'I'm not saying I won't get tired. I'm human. We get tired. You think you can push me to a limit that I'll quit?' It upset him."
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The former two-division champion has been out of action since July 2021, nursing a fractured leg and dealing with legal troubles. McGregor, 37, promptly began his five-year hiatus following his second straight loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, when he suffered the injury. That was before he was found liable in a high-profile Irish civil trial in 2024 for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand. Hand claimed the Irish star raped her in a Dublin hotel room in 2018.
Now, McGregor is back for his third appearance at 170 pounds. Speaking in-studio in Las Vegas on Thursday, Chael Sonnen shared insight on "The Ariel Helwani Show" about just how noticeable McGregor's size difference is.
"I saw Conor yesterday. ... This guy's huge," Sonnen told Uncrowned. "I get up and give him the bro-hug. First off, he's as hard as a rock, and secondly, I'm looking at him, and I said, 'Conor, I fought middleweights my whole life. I didn't fight anybody smaller than you.' He said, 'Chael, I don't want to talk about my weight. I'm gonna keep my weight close, but I will tell you, for the first time ever, I've gotta pull down to 170.' If I was to guess, he's closer to 180 than he is to 170.
"If he got on top of Max, he held him the first time, and now he's a bigger, stronger guy. It's a piece of this that the bettors, the oddsmakers that nobody knew."
Throughout his time off, McGregor noticeably bulked up for his role in the “Road House” reboot alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. More recently, it was reported McGregor used performance-enhancing drugs during his time outside of competition.
The first McGregor-Holloway bout took place in 2013, with McGregor winning a unanimous decision as he ascended to the top of the featherweight division. Like Sonnen mentioned, the win was arguably the heaviest wrestling performance of McGregor's career, as he tore his ACL early in the fight and turned to his ground game.
Before the rematch was made official, McGregor attempted his return sooner, booking a bout against Michael Chandler in June 2024. However, McGregor withdrew two weeks out due to a broken pinky toe. In Holloway, he gets an opponent still considered an elite contender at lightweight.
"Why would he want Max? He's already beat him. What would get him out of bed for Max?" Sonnen asked. "I thought it was the worst possible matchup they could do. I was actually surprised that the UFC went in this direction.
"When the story is done, we're gonna talk about the three fights he had with Dustin Poirier and the two he had with Nate [Diaz], and we'll probably want one more with Nate. Oh, and by the way, it's Max again. As you're looking at his record, it's like, 'Hey, let's spread this around.' It would be so fascinating. Him and Chandler, him and [Mauricio] Ruffy. Anything new, I thought."
Ultimately, McGregor has an uphill battle. Regarding his catastrophic leg injury, it's something that's only been seen three times prior in the UFC specifically. All three times, the fighters were never the same, nor did they take as long to return.
Sonnen highlighted those aspects in particular as reasons why a McGregor win should be a near impossibility. That's not even considering the five-round element, with the bout occupying main-event status.
"Max, perhaps, has the clearest path to victory of anybody who's fought in a UFC main event in history," Sonnen said. "The most obvious sporting event of my lifetime was Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul — the most obvious outcome that we were gonna have. In UFC history for main events, Conor is not just gonna have to do something no human has done. He has to do three things. Nobody has returned to a weight class higher than their prime — and you can even go back to boxing — and looked great. Nobody had come back from a compound fracture, looked great, or even found success on their first time. Nobody has returned to a five-round proposition, and that is the biggest one.
"This is a different sport. People want to talk about [the first fight]. Does that matter to this? It was a different game. You change one rule to a game, you have a different game. Conor and Max are being asked to do something that nobody else on the card are being asked to do.
"If this was a three-round propositioned fight, there is no scenario where Conor McGregor will leave his stool for the fourth round," Sonnen continued. "I'm telling you, from a human anatomy standpoint, it can't happen. It cannot, has not, with that fracture, had enough time to train to this weight class with this layoff and see championship rounds. Will not happen."
McGregor doesn't need to fight anymore. He's made his money and accomplished all he could have during the height of his career. Because of that, his motivation has come into question ahead of this more reserved pre-fight approach he's taken.
Yet, Sonnen sees semblances of a fire after seeing McGregor firsthand. Whether it burns intensely enough will be seen on Saturday night inside the T-Mobile Arena.
"He's bitter. He's angry about Max saying he was gonna drag him into deep waters," Sonnen said. "That offended Conor McGregor. Conor said, 'I'm not saying I won't get tired. I'm human. We get tired. You think you can push me to a limit that I'll quit?' It upset him."
Continue reading...
