Max Holloway Not Convinced ‘Exhibition Champ’ Conor McGregor Will Ever Fight Him Again

Last week, Conor McGregor addressed a crowd waiting to hear what his next move was, but the man didn’t know himself. After reaching the pinnacle of they money fight game, literally fighting ‘Money’ Floyd Mayweather, he has a long list of options to survey for his next MMA fight and at least three UFC cards to watch before he makes his decision. One of seven names that he rattled off speaking at the Glasgow event was former opponent Max Holloway. The featherweight champion isn’t holding is breathe though, Holloway doesn’t feel like McGregor would ever fight him again. That’s why he’s moving on and forging a name for himself, by himself.

“The fight with Conor [McGregor], to be honest, I don’t think it ever happens. He simply is just not about that life. Don’t you think it’s funny this guy walks around calling himself the ‘champ-champ’ and only one of his last four fights was a championship fight? It’s only one. People need to sit back, relax and really think of his last four fights. Only one of them was a championship fight. This guy is over here holding onto something he won in 2015 saying that he’s a champ-champ but he’s not fighting championship fights.”

MOTOWN – You got yourself a 🔥 main event@BlessedMMA makes first title defense vs @FrankieEdgar at #UFC218 in Detroit!

Predictions? ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Mi8lOKUQNz

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2017

“He’s fighting exhibition matches for money. That’s what he does. When he lost to Nate [Diaz], he didn’t lose his champ aura because it wasn’t a championship fight. The list goes on. If he loses to me, what happens? His champ aura is gone, fairy tale over. You can say he wouldn’t lose to me and that’s your opinion, but the fact is if he fights me there’s a risk of losing his champ aura and he’s not about that life. All of his belts are DNB’s — defend nothing belts. He fights exhibitions matches. That’s what he does.” — Max Holloway speaking to FloCombat.

Max Holloway is right. Their fight was back in 2013 and Holloway hasn’t lost since, even becoming only the second man to beat Jose Aldo in the UFC. Both becoming champions since then and splitting into their own very different paths. McGregor even praised Holloway for his accomplishments, although he didn’t take it that way. We’ll have to wait to see what Conor McGregor decides, but Max Holloway will defend his featherweight title against Frankie Edgar at an incredibly stacked UFC 218.

“People ask me, ‘Why are you hating on him when he just complemented you in his last interview?’ If you really look at his last interview, the one where they say he complemented me, he really didn’t. He acknowledged some facts. He acknowledged what I did. That’s it. He acknowledged it and then at the end of it he hung me by saying he beat me. Yeah, we were both kids. We were on the undercard of a damn Fight Night. We both make $12k for that damn fight. This guy is bringing up the past and it makes no sense.”

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/7/2017.