Jorge Masvidal is not giving Conor McGregor much room for a fairy-tale UFC comeback against Max Holloway.
Masvidal weighed in on the newly booked McGregor vs. Holloway 2 matchup, and he did not dance around the pick. With McGregor returning after years away from competition and Holloway staying far more active, Masvidal sees the UFC 329 rematch going heavily toward “Blessed.”
“I think Max smokes him like a brisket,” Masvidal said.
Watch the clip below:
https://x.com/DovySimuMMA/status/2056504365230489826
The panel did not completely write off McGregor’s danger. One voice pushed back by pointing to the one thing that usually survives layoffs, injuries, and the whole Conor circus.
“The thing is, Conor has the power,” the panelist said. “That’s not gonna, no matter the injury, that’s gonna be there still. The timing, a lot of things, other things matter, but the power is gonna be there.”
Holloway has the pace, activity, durability, and rhythm. McGregor still has the left hand and the early danger that can ruin someone’s night if they get lazy for half a second.
Masvidal And The Panel See Holloway As A Clear Favorite
The conversation then turned to the betting line, and nobody sounded shocked that Holloway would be favored.
“I think Max is the favorite,” one panelist said.
“Yeah, Max is the favorite,” another answered.
When someone guessed the line might be “three to one,” another voice pushed it even wider.
“Man, I’m thinking like six to one,” he said.
Holloway has stayed busy and kept fighting elite opponents, even after his featherweight title run and BMF stretch. McGregor has not fought since the Dustin Poirier leg injury in 2021, and his UFC 329 return already has fighters questioning the mental side of that layoff, and the bout is expected to happen at 170 pounds, not featherweight or lightweight.
“Max is so active,” the panelist said. “Obviously he lost to Ilia in his last fight, but before that, he’s been looking great. And he’s not gonna have to worry about the wrestling and jiu-jitsu, obviously, of Conor McGregor. Max just gets better as the fight goes on. Conor slows down to begin with, and now this is five years off. It’s just a big uphill battle.”
That is the biggest red flag for McGregor. Holloway has always been a volume monster, and the longer his fights go, the more he turns the cage into a cardio tax office. McGregor’s best work has usually come early, when his timing is sharp and opponents are still fresh enough to walk into his reads.
The panel also mentioned the current number.
“Holloway is a minus 400,” one voice said.
“Minus 400,” another repeated.
“That’s crazy,” came the response.
Even then, they expected McGregor’s fanbase to move the market.
“You know those Irish fans are gonna bring that line down, though,” one panelist said.
“They’re gonna be betting hard on Conor,” another added.
“Maybe wait to pull the trigger on the bet, because the lines are gonna change,” the panelist said.
McGregor money always shows up, because McGregor fans do not bet like accountants. They bet like the old left hand is still sitting in a time capsule waiting to detonate.
The fight itself has real history behind it. Holloway had already called the McGregor rematch huge for International Fight Week, and McGregor beat Holloway by decision in 2013, back when both were young featherweights and neither had become a UFC champion yet. Since then, McGregor became the UFC’s first simultaneous two-division champion, while Holloway became one of the greatest featherweights ever and built a résumé on pressure, durability, and ridiculous output.
Masvidal also pointed to the lifestyle gap as a major reason he wants to see how McGregor looks after so much time away.
“I don’t know, man. I’m curious as to see how Conor’s going to look because, like you said, five years off is a long time,” Masvidal said. “The game changes.”
“Now Max is an older fighter, but still, he’s been current with the current game, the speed of the game, the new stuff that everybody’s doing,” Masvidal said. “I don’t know how Conor adjusts.”
Watch Masvidal explain that part below:
Jorge Masvidal says the difference in lifestyle will play out badly for Conor McGregor:
"It's also the lifestyle. I think Conor lives a certain lifestyle we've all seen and you can tell it's not for show and it's really his lifestyle…
Max lives a completely different… pic.twitter.com/8URRyMuXug
— Full Mount MMA (@MMAFullMount) May 18, 2026
“It’s also the lifestyle,” Masvidal said. “I think Conor lives a certain lifestyle that we’ve all seen, and then you can kind of tell that it’s not for show. It’s really his lifestyle.”
“Max lives a completely different lifestyle, where I’ve never seen Max at a club drunk,” Masvidal said. “You’ve never seen him on the headlines for anything bad. That guy lives a different life where it’s gym, family, gym, family, gym, family.”
“I think that’s going to pay the biggest dividends,” Masvidal said, “because you could be away from the sport five years, come back like nothing happened, if you live that life.”
Masvidal clearly thinks the current version of Holloway is too much for the comeback version of McGregor. Conor’s power is still Conor’s power. Everything else is the problem.
