Alexander Volkanovski has offered a detailed assessment of Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return against Max Holloway in the UFC 329 main event on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
McGregor is set to rematch Holloway more than a decade after their first meeting, a 2013 unanimous decision win for McGregor, and will do so after what is described as a five-year long layoff. Volkanovski expects that absence to matter, but not right away.
“Conor hasn't been in the game for a long time, and I think a lot of people are thinking that he's just going to lose everything, but that's not the case,” Volkanovski said, while still predicting the layoff will eventually show.
“He's going to be dangerous. He's obviously still going to be very sharp, very explosive, still got a good eye. Is it the exact eye he had when he was double champ and doing what he was doing? No, probably not. But, still going to be very dangerous, and I know Max is going to respect that. I know they're going to want to put on a show, but at the same time, you're going to know Conor is going to be very dangerous early.”
Volkanovski anticipates Holloway leaning on his durability and decision-making down the stretch. “I think Max will make the right decisions to not just get into the fire straight away, and then start to work him later in the rounds,” he added, pointing to McGregor’s explosiveness and the impact of the “big layoff” as the fight progresses.
McGregor enters the bout described as a former UFC dual-champion and a sizable underdog against Holloway, who holds a 27-9 MMA record and 23-9 mark in the UFC, compared to McGregor’s 22-6 overall and 10-4 in the promotion.
