MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz believes that UFC superstar Conor McGregor “took the easy way out” in the main event of UFC 329.
McGregor lost just 69 seconds into the UFC 329 headliner against Max Holloway when he suffered an apparent knee injury, giving Holloway the first-round TKO victory.
But according to Abdelaziz, he believes that McGregor took the easy way out as part of his plan to escape his UFC contract.
Ali Abdelaziz Says Conor McGregor ‘Took Easy Way Out’
Speaking on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, two of his clients, Abdelaziz — who is also the manager of McGregor’s longtime rival Khabib Nurmagomedov — theorized that the Irishman wanted out of his fight with Holloway because it was part of his plan to get through the final two fights of his UFC contract faster.
“Maybe he thought, ‘You know what? I’ve already got all my guaranteed money, and everybody’s going to say Conor just got injured. He didn’t get beat up.’ Because I think Max was going to tune him up. That’s my opinion. I think Max was going to tune him up because Conor just isn’t the guy he used to be. I think Conor took the easy way out. You just have to really, really fight all the way, especially with the amount of money he’s making and the people flying in,” Abdelaziz said (via Bloody Elbow).
“There are also two scenarios. Maybe he got injured a little bit in there, or maybe he’s like, ‘You know what? I owe you two fights. Here you go. One fight, and the second one I’ll give you in six or seven months, and then I’m out.’ That’s what I think.”
Conor McGregor’s Final UFC Fight Coming Up
With the Holloway fight now out of the way, McGregor has only one more fight left on his UFC deal, which will likely come sometime in 2027 once he returns from his knee injury.
When he returns, McGregor said that he wants a trilogy bout against Holloway. But UFC president Dana White has said that he isn’t sure that will be the fight.
We’ll see what the UFC plans to do with McGregor, especially after the fight with Holloway lasted just 1:09 and was one of the most disappointing fights in promotional history. Obviously, McGregor still brings plenty of eyeballs to the sport, as evidenced by the numbers for both viewership and live gate at UFC 329. But after suffering devastating injuries in his last two bouts, it’s difficult to completely trust McGregor at this point.
The UFC will have plenty of options for McGregor, as many welterweights and lightweights will want to step into the Octagon against him for the final fight of his UFC career, and it will be interesting to see if the matchmakers decide to give him a winnable fight against someone like Michael Chandler, or if instead they match him up against someone who would be the favorite to beat him by knockout, such as Carlos Prates or Mauricio Ruffy.
Ali Abdelaziz: Conor McGregor ‘Took the Easy Way Out’ at UFC 329