Chris Weidman expected the betting odds to have been even wider for Conor McGregor’s return to the UFC.
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) draws former UFC and BMF champion Max Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC) in a five-round welterweight bout at UFC 329 on July 11 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
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McGregor, who hasn’t competed since breaking his leg in July 2021, is a big underdog against Holloway.
“What are the odds on that fight? 3-1? I’m thinking like 6-1,” Weidman said on UFC on Paramount+. “Max is so active. Obviously he lost to (Charles) Oliveira in his last fight, but before that, he’s been looking great. And he’s not going to have to worry about the wrestling and jiu-jitsu obviously of Conor McGregor, and Max just gets better as the fight goes on. Conor slows down to begin with, and now this is five years off. It’s just a big uphill battle.”
Weidman pointed to McGregor’s prior tendency of slowing down in fights and sees him struggling with that even more after not having fought in five years.
“The only chance Conor really has is to knock out Max, probably in the first or second round,” Weidman said. “He’s also going against one of the biggest volume punchers we’ve ever seen, so he’s not coming back in against a guy who kind of has an easy pace to deal with.”
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Former UFC middleweight champion Weidman can relate to McGregor’s injury. Like McGregor, Weidman snapped his leg during a UFC fight, which resulted in surgery and a long layoff.
“I would say if anybody could do it, come back from a crazy layoff, come back from a traumatic leg break, all the ups and downs outside the UFC with, like, getting in trouble, lawsuits and stuff, it’s him,” Weidman said of McGregor. “I think that’s why people love him. He’s got such a confidence about himself.
“He talks things into existence, and then people are inspired by that because people want to be confident in themselves so they try to draw inspiration from Conor. So, if anybody can have the right mindset coming back from a late layoff, it would be Conor.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC legend details ‘only chance’ for McGregor to beat Holloway
