\u201cIf you can\u2019t make it to war, you lose the war. You ain\u2019t about this life.\u201d \u2014 Nate Diaz, October 15, 2018<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a certain percentage of fight fan who never moved beyond 2016.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the year Conor McGregor smoked Eddie Alvarez to become simultaneous UFC double champ (never mind that he held up the Featherweight title for ages to do so). It was undoubtedly the height of McGregor\u2019s fighting prowess. He was such a slick striker (ignore the Nate Diaz loss) at the time that McGregor scored himself the life-changing Floyd Mayweather payday, which then kept him out of the Octagon for nearly two years.<\/p>\n
This confusion about the current timeline helps explain the insultingly close odds for the UFC 329 main event rematch between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway. A majority of bets placed were wagered on the underdog McGregor by people like Drake, casual fans who fail to understand that 2016 was a decade ago and McGregor hasn\u2019t even won a fight \u2014 let alone an important one \u2014 since before the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Holloway, meanwhile, has been fighting the best in the world for the entirety of McGregor\u2019s five-year yacht retreat. In the time between McGregor\u2019s destroyed leg (the first one) to UFC 329, Holloway won a round off Ilia Topuria, knocked out Justin Gaethje, and defeated \u201cThe Diamond\u201d for himself. The 34-year-old Hawaiian may no longer be in his physical prime anymore, but his body remains a sharpened sword, still honed in the fire of elite combat.<\/p>\n
McGregor? He was falling apart five years ago. Youthful athletes at their peak do not shatter their bones throwing kicks. Shockingly, cocaine and whiskey are poor preparation for athletic performance, and equally surprising, the 37-year-old body doesn\u2019t hold up to gymnastics as well as a 27-year-old\u2019s knees.<\/p>\n
McGregor\u2019s return against Holloway was an act of arrogance. Max \u201cBlessed\u201d Holloway is genuinely a Top Five contender in two separate divisions right now, and McGregor thought he could walk off the couch and take him on? I don\u2019t care what doctor-prescribed performance enhancing drugs<\/a> were coursing through his system, that\u2019s simple hubris.<\/p>\n Half-broken Michael Chandler would\u2019ve been a much more appropriate challenge.<\/p>\n