{"id":727251,"date":"2026-06-10T11:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T11:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727251\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T11:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T11:08:08","slug":"eddie-alvarez-doubts-conor-mcgregor-ufc-329-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727251\/","title":{"rendered":"Eddie Alvarez doubts Conor McGregor UFC 329 comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/fighter\/eddie-alvarez\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Alvarez<\/a> does not like <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/fighter\/conor-mcgregor\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Conor McGregor<\/a>&#8216;s chances when he returns from a five-year layoff this summer.<\/p>\n<p>McGregor faces Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, according to MMA Fighting. Alvarez, who fought McGregor a decade ago at UFC 205, told Full Send MMA that five years away from the sport is simply too long to recapture championship form.<\/p>\n<p>Alvarez on fighting as a lifestyle commitment<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re either in this life or you&#8217;re not,&#8221; Alvarez said on the podcast, per the report. &#8220;It&#8217;s not something you can just pick up and put down. You are a fighter, and it takes years to become that character, and once you get out of that character, it&#8217;s very difficult to get back into it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The former <a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews.com\/division\/lightweight\/\" class=\"internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash\/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">lightweight<\/a> champion acknowledged that McGregor picked the right opponent stylistically. Holloway&#8217;s striking-heavy approach guarantees a standup fight where McGregor remains most comfortable, Alvarez noted, eliminating any wrestling or grappling threats. That choice plays to McGregor&#8217;s strengths in what will essentially be a boxing match with four-ounce gloves.<\/p>\n<p>Alvarez credited McGregor&#8217;s obsessiveness as his best asset for a comeback but said Holloway&#8217;s activity advantage \u2014 fighting elite competition consistently while McGregor sat out \u2014 tips the scales. &#8220;I just think it might be too much too soon,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Once you put it down, it&#8217;s down.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>McGregor and Holloway first fought in 2013, with McGregor winning by decision. Both have since built Hall of Fame resumes, though only one stayed active through 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"image-credit\">Photo: Cpl. Samantha Sanchez \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Blue_Angels%27_VIP_Rider_Max_Holloway_(1)_(cropped).jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, Public domain<\/p>\n<p class=\"sources-heading\">Original reporting:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eddie Alvarez does not like Conor McGregor&#8216;s chances when he returns from a five-year layoff this summer. McGregor&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-727251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}