Holloway dismisses McGregor's 'generational beating' claim: 'He felt slow; he looked old'

Max Holloway has publicly dismissed Conor McGregor’s post-fight claims from UFC 329, calling the Irishman “delusional” after McGregor insisted he had been on course to deliver a “generational beating” before tearing his ACL in the opening moments of their rematch.

The fight, which served as the main event of UFC 329 this summer, was a long-awaited sequel to their 2013 bout — a contest McGregor won by decision despite suffering a knee injury at the time. History repeated itself in the worst way when McGregor blew out his ACL almost immediately, handing Holloway a quick and anticlimactic TKO victory.

Rather than accept the result quietly, McGregor took to social media to lament the circumstances, citing slippery conditions caused by dry ice and insisting the outcome would have been very different had he stayed healthy. Holloway was having none of it.

“The fight went the way it went,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel. “I feel bad for the fans. It’s just crazy for the dude to be talking about, ‘It was slippery because of the dry ice’ or whatever. I don’t know what he’s talking about because I didn’t fall. Him talking about this ‘generational beating’ — the dude is delusional. To me, he felt slow in there. He felt slow; he looked old. If there was going to be a generational beating, it wasn’t going to be on his end, I’ll tell you that much.”

Holloway also acknowledged the disappointment for fans who had invested heavily in the event. “It was a big event; a lot of people spent a lot of money. Shoutout to them for the support, but I had the man weak in the knees from the beginning, I guess.”

With McGregor now sidelined for close to a year as he recovers from the ACL tear, a trilogy fight is already being floated for next summer — and Holloway says he is open to it. But he is not prepared to wait around if a more immediate opportunity presents itself, with a welterweight title shot also on his radar following a public exchange with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

“If it’s Conor next year, great. If it’s a title shot in some type of weight class, great,” Holloway said. “I went to 170. The champ or the champ’s team is not liking what I said, which just blew my mind, because I wasn’t being disrespectful. I was just kind of caught off guard with the situation and just said what a lot of people were probably thinking.”

Holloway made clear he is willing to compete at either 155 or 170 pounds, leaving his next move firmly in the UFC’s hands. “If it’s a title shot in either weight class, sign your boy up. If it’s the Conor McGregor fight again, I’ll sign on the dotted line.”