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Max Holloway's wishes for a rematch against Conor McGregor have a good chance of being answered from the perspective of UFC commentator Jon Anik.
Longtime UFC lead play-by-play man Anik is awaiting news about the octagon return of former two-division champion McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who hasn't competed since breaking his leg in a trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
"The Notorious" nearly made his comeback in July 2024 against Michael Chandler, but pulled out of the fight on less than three weeks' notice with a toe injury. There's been spurts of momentum since then, but perhaps no more so than now, with McGregor recently declaring he's targeting UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Furthermore, Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC), who suffered a unanimous decision defeat to McGregor at UFC Fight Night 26 in August 2013 when both were young in their careers, has been making noise about his desire to rematch at "any weight."
Where there's smoke there's fire, and Anik sees a number of stars aligning for two of the UFC's more prominent names to run it back.
"I would not take the field, I would take Max Holloway (to get the fight)," Anik told MMA Junkie. "I just think it makes so much sense, given what their first fight held in 2013, given what they've accomplished at this point in time. And just when you look at the calendar, and you look at a lot of the lightweights there and their relative availability or not, I just think Conor and Max Holloway is about as big a fight as you can make for Conor when it comes to who is going to be the fighter out of the blue corner."
Although former UFC featherweight champion and former BMF champion Holloway seemingly has the inside track on the McGregor return sweepstakes, Anik admits other options are in play.
Nothing will be certain until McGregor ultimately steps back inside that cage, but if and when it does, Anik knows it will be a significant moment and a significant opponent.
"Paddy Pimblett certainly makes sense," Anik said. "If you wanted Conor to compete for the BMF title, I think the Charles Oliveira fight makes sense. I think for those who were off put by Oliveira's brilliance earlier this month, then maybe that would not be the fight they would move to make."
To hear more from Anik, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Anik: Conor McGregor-Max Holloway rematch 'makes so much sense'
Continue reading...
Longtime UFC lead play-by-play man Anik is awaiting news about the octagon return of former two-division champion McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who hasn't competed since breaking his leg in a trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
"The Notorious" nearly made his comeback in July 2024 against Michael Chandler, but pulled out of the fight on less than three weeks' notice with a toe injury. There's been spurts of momentum since then, but perhaps no more so than now, with McGregor recently declaring he's targeting UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Furthermore, Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC), who suffered a unanimous decision defeat to McGregor at UFC Fight Night 26 in August 2013 when both were young in their careers, has been making noise about his desire to rematch at "any weight."
Where there's smoke there's fire, and Anik sees a number of stars aligning for two of the UFC's more prominent names to run it back.
"I would not take the field, I would take Max Holloway (to get the fight)," Anik told MMA Junkie. "I just think it makes so much sense, given what their first fight held in 2013, given what they've accomplished at this point in time. And just when you look at the calendar, and you look at a lot of the lightweights there and their relative availability or not, I just think Conor and Max Holloway is about as big a fight as you can make for Conor when it comes to who is going to be the fighter out of the blue corner."
Although former UFC featherweight champion and former BMF champion Holloway seemingly has the inside track on the McGregor return sweepstakes, Anik admits other options are in play.
Nothing will be certain until McGregor ultimately steps back inside that cage, but if and when it does, Anik knows it will be a significant moment and a significant opponent.
"Paddy Pimblett certainly makes sense," Anik said. "If you wanted Conor to compete for the BMF title, I think the Charles Oliveira fight makes sense. I think for those who were off put by Oliveira's brilliance earlier this month, then maybe that would not be the fight they would move to make."
To hear more from Anik, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Anik: Conor McGregor-Max Holloway rematch 'makes so much sense'
Continue reading...
