​In his return at UFC 329 on Saturday, Conor McGregor looks bigger than ever, literally. The Irish superstar is coming back for a rematch with Max Holloway at welterweight, stepping away from his former home at lightweight. After a layoff that stretched since July 2021, McGregor has been nursing a fractured leg while also navigating legal turmoil. The 37-year-old began a five-year hiatus following his second straight loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, the injury happening in the same period. That stretch included a 2024 civil case in Ireland in which McGregor was found liable in a high-profile matter regarding Nikita Hand, who alleged that he raped her in a Dublin hotel room in 2018.
Now McGregor returns for his third appearance at 170 pounds. In Las Vegas, where an in-studio segment aired on Thursday, Chael Sonnen offered thoughts on The Ariel Helwani Show about McGregor’s substantial size difference. “I saw Conor yesterday… this guy’s huge,” Sonnen said to Uncrowned. “I greeted him with a bro-hug. First off, he’s as hard as a rock, and secondly, I’m looking at him and I said, ‘Conor, I’ve fought middleweights my whole life. I didn’t fight anybody smaller than you.’ He told me, ‘Chael, I don’t want to talk about my weight. I’ll keep my weight close, but I will tell you, for the first time ever, I’ve got to pull down to 170.’ If I had to guess, he’s closer to 180 than to 170.” Sonnen’s takeaway was that if McGregor gets on top of Holloway, he’s now bigger and stronger than before, a development that might reshape betting lines in a way few anticipated.
McGregor’s time away was marked by a clear bulking up, a transformation tied to his role in the Road House reboot alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. More recent rumors have circulated about his use of performance-enhancing drugs during his non-competition period, though those claims remain part of the broader chatter surrounding his period out of the cage. The first McGregor-Holloway encounter, in 2013, ended in a unanimous decision win for McGregor as he began his ascent to the top of the featherweight division. Sonnen notes that the performance also showcased McGregor’s resilience in mixed martial arts, as he tore his ACL early and nevertheless leaned on his grappling and wrestling to secure the victory.
Before the rematch was officially announced, McGregor had briefly planned to return earlier, targeting a bout with Michael Chandler in June 2024. That plan collapsed two weeks prior to the date due to a broken pinky toe, forcing McGregor to postpone his comeback. Holloway, by contrast, remains a formidable opponent at lightweight, representing a challenge that is as much about legacy as it is about the present. Sonnen questioned the reasoning behind the matchup, asking why McGregor would want to face Holloway again, given that he had already defeated him. “Why would he want Max? He’s already beat him. What would get him out of bed for Max?” Sonnen mused, suggesting the UFC’s decision surprised many observers at the time and could be a strategic choice aimed at maintaining visibility and SEO rather than presenting the strongest immediate test for McGregor.
Looking at McGregor’s recent fights, the narrative continues to swing back to the two-discipline arc that defined his early career: the celebrity aura that surrounds him, and the evolving reality that he is facing elite competition again after years away. The three fights against Dustin Poirier and the two against Nate Diaz endure as a reminder of the peaks and valleys in his career, while Holloway remains the latest benchmark in a journey that has repeatedly tested his capacity to adapt and endure inside the cage.
As the bout approaches, all eyes will be on how McGregor’s enhanced frame translates to performance at 170 pounds. Will the added mass translate into an advantage in power and top control, or will the weight cut and the long layoff still pose an obstacle for a fighter who has built his brand on speed and precision? The answer will shape not only this matchup but the broader arc of McGregor’s reign in the post-welterweight era and how his legacy is defined moving forward.