Max Holloway is not announcing the Conor McGregor rematch, but he clearly has that fight on his mind after discussing the matchup in an interview with UFC on Paramount+.
The former UFC featherweight champion and BMF titleholder was asked if International Fight Week could be the landing spot for his next appearance. Holloway did not say a deal is done, and he stressed that he has not heard anything official yet.
“Maybe. Maybe. We’ll see what happens,” Holloway said. “I’m seeing all the talk that you guys saying. I didn’t really hear anything yet, but that wouldn’t be a bad time.”
Holloway is being careful because nothing is signed, but the timing clearly has his attention. International Fight Week is one of the UFC’s biggest annual windows, which is why a Holloway-McGregor sequel keeps coming up around UFC summer booking talk.
Holloway has a 27-9 pro record, a championship run at featherweight, and a BMF title win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. After his last fight, he made it clear that he wants to compete again quickly and shift the conversation back to his next result.
“You’re only as good as your last fight, they say,” Holloway said. “We got to get everybody forgetting about the last fight as soon as possible.”
Holloway Says McGregor History Is The Real Hook
The McGregor part is tied to a real result. Holloway and McGregor fought at UFC Fight Night 26 on Aug. 17, 2013, with McGregor winning by unanimous decision. Since then, Holloway became a UFC champion, while McGregor built a 22-6 overall MMA record and a 10-4 UFC record. That first meeting is still the result Holloway wants back.
“I mean, we have history,” Holloway said. “We fought a very long time ago.”
Holloway was then asked what training looks like when the fight is not officially booked. His answer was blunt. There is no clean camp without a contract, but he is still keeping himself pointed toward the window he wants.
“It sucks, right?” Holloway said. “Of course you don’t have nothing signed or whatever, so training camp just looks like a regular training camp without contract.”
He added that the uncertainty has not scrambled his mindset.
“My head space is pretty straight,” Holloway said. “I know when I fight. We kind of know where we want to fight, when we want to fight, so it’s just getting in the gym, getting there, getting it done.”
McGregor is one of the rare names from Holloway’s early UFC years that never came back around. Holloway framed the rematch as unfinished business, not fake beef.
“If somebody got one over me, I want to get them back,” Holloway said. “I’d love to get them back.”
McGregor has not fought in the UFC since UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier, where the bout ended after a leg injury and doctor stoppage. Holloway said the recent comeback noise around McGregor makes the matchup more interesting because the Irishman appears to be taking the idea seriously again.
“With him having all this talk of coming back and everybody talking about how serious he actually looks, like he’s training and taking it and really wanting to come back to fight, it’s exciting,” Holloway said.
Holloway also brought up McGregor’s recent boxing exhibition as another sign that he is moving like an active fighter again.
“He looks hungrier,” Holloway said. “He looks super hungry.”
Holloway also knows McGregor’s name changes the scale of any UFC card, especially one built around a major week in Las Vegas.
“I know it’s a huge fight. It’s a big fight,” Holloway said. “Anything with Conor McGregor is huge.”
Watch the full interview below:
For Holloway, the rematch is about chasing back an old loss against a former two-division UFC champion.
“Having history with the dude, being able to get one back would be cool,” Holloway said. “I got to get my get backs on one of the guys.”
