Rogan says UFC should ditch Holloway trilogy and return to Chandler for McGregor's comeback

Joe Rogan has called on the UFC to abandon plans for a Conor McGregor–Max Holloway trilogy and instead revisit the original comeback opponent, Michael Chandler, when McGregor returns from injury next summer.

McGregor suffered a blown-out knee throwing a jumping switch kick barely a minute into his UFC 329 rematch with Holloway in July — his first fight in five years. He is now facing approximately 12 months of recovery from ACL surgery, but has already spoken publicly about wanting to complete the trilogy with Holloway. Rogan, speaking on his podcast, pushed back on that idea.

“Look, if Conor McGregor really does come back a year from now, I think he wants to fight Max Holloway. ‘I’ve got to finish what I’ve started!’ But really, Chandler was the right fight for him anyway,” Rogan said. “Because they were supposed to fight, they did The Ultimate Fighter together, they were supposed to fight a long time ago, and then Conor breaks his [toe] and all that jazz. They were supposed to fight forever ago. That would have been a fun fight.”

Chandler was originally scheduled to face McGregor at UFC 303 in 2024, a bout built around their shared season of The Ultimate Fighter. McGregor withdrew after breaking his toe, and by the time he was cleared to compete again the UFC had moved on from Chandler — who had dropped two further fights in the interim — and matched him with Holloway instead.

Rogan acknowledged the appeal of the Chandler fight on stylistic grounds, describing it as a favourable matchup for McGregor given Chandler’s aggressive, hittable style. He was far less optimistic about a five-round rematch with Holloway.

“Max Holloway is a five-rounder. You’d better have all of your Ts crossed, and your Is dotted if you want to go five rounds with Max motherf*cking Holloway, because that dude doesn’t fade. Period,” Rogan said. “And Conor’s been a guy who is real good in the first few rounds, but then his style is so explosive, it’s so energy-demanding that he fades. He faded in the Nate Diaz fight. Because he tries to get you out of there, and if you’re still there and that gas tank gets emptied, it gets tough.”

McGregor is targeting a return around International Fight Week next summer, though the timeline remains contingent on the progress of his recovery.