Former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad thinks Max Holloway will beat Conor McGregor after he returns from “five years of drugs.”
McGregor makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 329 when he battles Holloway in a five-round welterweight bout. For McGregor, it marks his first MMA fight in five years, as his last fight in the cage took place on July 10, 2021, when Dustin Poirier defeated him via injury TKO due to a broken leg at UFC 264.
Now, after so much time away, McGregor returns to the Octagon, and Muhammad doesn’t like his chances of getting the win.
Belal Muhammad Picks Max Holloway to Finish Conor McGregor
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Muhammad explained why he is picking Holloway to finish McGregor at UFC 329, arguing that the five-year layoff is too much for the Irishman to overcome in this bout against the Hawaiian.
“Long five years, a crazy five years if you’re living the McGregor lifestyle. So which Conor are we going to see back in this cage? Obviously, the last time we saw him, Dustin broke his leg, so just coming back from that is going to be hard, but coming back from that, then coming back from drugs, then coming back from partying, then coming back from probably not doing anything sort of training at all the last five years, which McGregor is going to show up? “I don’t think we’re going to know until the cage door locks and we see at least three minutes, then we’ll have an idea of which McGregor we got. Is he still there, does he still have any fight left in him, does he still have any motivation left in him? He can talk the talk, we know he can talk, but fight night is where we see if he still has it,” Muhammad said (via MMAFighting.com).
“For my pick, I’m going with Holloway. I think five years off, five years of drugs, five years of recovery, it’s going way too much for McGregor to come back. Holloway’s hot, I think he’s going to be motivated after that loss and more motivated now even after Justin won that fight knowing that a bigger fight will be on the horizon. I’m picking Holloway and going with finish. I think he’s going to hurt him to the body, catch him up top, and I’m going to go with TKO.”
Belal Muhammad Believes Max Holloway Should Grapple Conor McGregor
While most analysts are predicting this bout between the two strikers will be primarily a standup fight, Muhammad believes that Holloway should mix in some takedowns, especially early in the fight, to sap McGregor’s power while he’s still fresh.
“Max, last fight, obviously lost to (Charles) Oliveira, got taken down a lot, got held down a lot, controlled on the ground. I don’t think we’re going to see any of that with McGregor, so I think it’s going all going to take (place) primarily on the feet. I think the probably the person that should initiate the grappling should be Holloway,” Muhammad said.
“We don’t know where McGregor is. He’s definitely added a lot of muscle on his body, so his cardio’s going to get trained. So for Holloway, I would definitely add in a takedown to wear on him, to get past that first three or four minutes. I think that first three or four minutes, McGregor’s going to come out hot. He knows, when he was at the top, his cardio was a problem. Now five years off, extra muscle, higher weight class, I think his cardio’s going to be even a bigger problem. So for Holloway, survive those first two, three minutes, even initiating the clinch, just stay away from the left hand. Even if you don’t believe it, even if you don’t think he still has it, just stay away. There’s no need, it’s a 25-minute fight.”
‘5 Years of Drugs:’ Former Champ Says Holloway TKOs McGregor