Dustin Poirier thinks Conor McGregor is facing a major challenge in his UFC 329 comeback against Max Holloway.
Poirier is perhaps the world’s most leading authority to speak on the July 11 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+). He’s fought McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Holloway (27-9 MMA, 23-9 UFC) three times each, going 2-1 in both trilogies.
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The questions around McGregor will be endless for his return from a five-year layoff. He was last seen fighting Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021, and it ended in disaster when the Irishman went down with a broken leg in the first round. He will turn 38 just three days after UFC 329, and although there’s no question he’ll be a different version than the past, Poirier is confident one trait will remain.
“Conor has the power,” Poirier said on Paramount’s “Deep Waters” podcast. “No matter the injury that’s going to be there still, the timing – other things matter. But the power is going to be here. This is going to be a firefight. Oliveira was able to smother (Holloway), which I was surprised by, because Max is hard to hold down. Conor is going to kickbox with him for 25 minutes. He has a puncher’s chance.
“Max for sure is a volume puncher, but at ’55 when I fought him last, he has power behind his shots, and I’ve got to think at 170 he’s got to have even more power, because Max can punch now. He’s not just a volume puncher. He can finish fights.”
Although Poirier favors Holloway in the matchup, he does have questions about the Hawaiian. With more strikes absorbed than any fighter in UFC history, the famous durability he once carried is beginning to show flaws.
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“The thing that I keep thinking about is in Max’s last three fights, he’s touched the canvas more times than he’s touched his whole career,” Poirier said. “(Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria) dropped him, I dropped him. That’s his last few fights. If Max’s chin is finally catching up to the style of fighting he does, Conor could put him down.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dustin Poirier shares X-factor for Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2
