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After more than five years away, Conor McGregor is finally set to return to the cage at UFC 329 in July to square off with rival Max Holloway.
But it’s not the first time McGregor has been scheduled for a return. He was previously set to face Michael Chandler, and there had been talks about a return fight against Dustin Poirier as well. Neither of those fights ended up happening, as McGregor backed out for varying reasons.
The fight against Holloway seems far more concrete. However, UFC legend Matt Brown says that if it’s not, and McGregor again pulls the rug out from under the promotion and its fans, that it signifies the end of his fighting career.
Matt Brown Says Conor McGregor’s Career Is Done If He No-Shows Holloway Fight
“If he doesn’t make this walk, I think it’s going to be unanimous agreement he’s done, and he’s never fighting again,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast.
But Brown didn’t stop there. He also said that McGregor needs to win the fight if people are going to continue to take him serious as a fighter moving forward.
“If he doesn’t go in there and win, I think it’s going to be a unanimous agreement that no one wants to see him fight again either. Even if he looks good.
“That doesn’t mean people won’t watch when he fights again. That’s putting a lot of ‘ifs’ in there. He goes in, he actually fights Max Holloway, he loses, I don’t see anybody really interested in seeing him fight again.
Of course, everybody will watch. He’s a big enough star, he could fight and lose the next five or 10 times and people will still watch. He’s a big enough star that’s what’s going to happen, but the interest will wane hugely if he doesn’t make this walk and find a way to win. It’s a lot of pressure on his side.”
Not only has McGregor not fought since 2021, but he also has just one win in his last four fights, which came against Donald Cerrone in 2020. In the three other fights, McGregor had two TKO losses to Poirier and a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
So it’s easy to see where Brown is coming from when he says McGregor’s reputation as a top-tier fighter is on the line against Holloway.