​Conor McGregor is outspoken about his own abilities, and ahead of his UFC 329 showdown with Max Holloway on Saturday, he issued one of the most provocative assertions of his career. In an interview with ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto during fight week, McGregor contended that the accomplishments of his featherweight tenure have been consistently undervalued in rankings debates. He went so far as to place himself above nearly everyone in the history of the 145-pound division.
“This ranking system for the greatest featherweights, I’ve beaten these men and haven’t been on the list. How have I beaten these men easily and handily, and yet been kept from the list? What is the skill? Who is the greatest? Who is the best? It is me, and the results prove this. It’s not like the fights weren’t there; it was just elsewhere. It was divisional changes, which originally were not for me. It was a fighter pulling out and things of that nature that led to it. I understand it, but I don’t agree with it,” McGregor said. “I am the greatest featherweight since Bruce Lee, and Saturday night I will show it.”
McGregor, a former UFC Featherweight Champion, is entering this weekend’s bout at welterweight—two divisions above Holloway’s typical featherweight range—after a five-year hiatus from the cage. His last appearance inside the octagon occurred in 2021, when he lost twice to Dustin Poirier. His initial planned comeback against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024 never materialized, and he later received an 18-month suspension in 2025 after failing to disclose his whereabouts for drug testing on three occasions. The previous victory over Holloway dates back to August 2013, a long span during which both fighters have evolved significantly since their first encounter.