Max Holloway’s coach Ivan Flores is unsure fans will ever see a trilogy fight with Conor McGregor after the Irish star suffered a right knee injury in their UFC 329 main event.
McGregor hurt his knee just 69 seconds into his comeback bout against Holloway at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, leading referee Mike Beltran to stop the fight when McGregor couldn’t stay on his feet. McGregor later confirmed he will need surgery on the injured knee.
Flores said his initial reaction was confusion when McGregor first went down. “When he threw the jumping kick, the first thing I thought of was, 'Shoot, he lost his footing and slipped,'” Flores said, before realizing something was seriously wrong. “But when he threw another kick and slipped and fell, I was like, 'Oh crap.' Of course you're happy with the W and what not, but this camp was special. This camp was different.”
Flores praised Holloway’s preparation and focus for the fight. “I haven't seen Max this locked in in a long time. He looked so great. So, we really wanted him to – we were talking about preparing for the best version of Conor McGregor this whole time. We were really excited because we were going to show the world the best version of Max Holloway.”
Asked if he expects McGregor to make it back for a trilogy, Flores responded, “I don't think so,” citing the road ahead. “If that knee is blown out, everything that it's going to take for him to come back and then have the confidence, we're looking at like another year. It's a tough thing to do.”
