Eddie Alvarez has weighed in on Conor McGregor’s high-profile return against Max Holloway in the UFC 329 headliner on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
McGregor is set to compete after five years away from the cage, while Holloway has remained active. Alvarez, who was stopped by McGregor via second-round TKO at UFC 205 in November 2016, made it clear he sees real danger in such a long layoff.
"I don't like people taking off this sport. I think it's dangerous when you put this sport down," Alvarez said, stressing that MMA is "not something you can put down and pick up. It's too dangerous," and that it "takes a while to become that ruthless dog that you need to be in order to go in there and fight viciously the way we do."
Looking specifically at UFC 329, Alvarez pointed to Holloway’s activity as a key factor. "That comeback needs to be built in with a large amount of training, warm-up fights and things like that in order to build into a massive fight, especially coming back with a guy like Max Holloway. Max has been active. Max is younger. Max has been a lot more active and in the game and didn't put the game down."
Still, Alvarez sees a unique X-factor in McGregor. "Conor has an obsessiveness about him that he can make up for years of not training in a short period of time that other guys don't have," he said, adding, "If anybody is able to come do this, it'll be him. But it definitely to me would be one of the best comeback stories we've ever seen in the sport."
