UFC 329: 5 big takeaways after Conor McGregor literally goes down without a fight
UFC 329 had some brilliant bright spots. But it ended in a letdown for the MMA history books after Conor McGregor succumbed to a leg injury almost immediately in his rematch with Max Holloway in the main event.
What a mess. What a disastrous attempt at a comeback. What a way to end the night. Here are all the key takeaways you need to know about after Saturday’s latest UFC event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
1. What the hell did I just watch? Sorry. I should be more articulate than that. Finding the right words even in tricky moments is kind of my whole job description. But come on. After all the build-up, all the hype and delusions of grandeur, all the claims about sleeping in the gym and abstaining from the marital bed and every other fight sports movie cliche anybody could dream up, it ends like that? With Conor McGregor shattering like cheap glass the instant he attempts a single strike? It’s an abomination, I tell you. A sick, sad joke.
Or maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s all very fitting. For years now McGregor’s life and career have felt like a living parable on the dark side of fame. It’s as if he got bored with the usual methods of squandering the love of the people and went hunting for new ways to lose fans and alienate people. Getting booed out of the same building that cheered him just a few minutes earlier, all because he wasn’t up to the task of giving them anything at all for their money even after months of promises and predictions, yep, that feels like a new low point. That one’s going to be hard to forget — and harder to come back from.
2. Max Holloway just made the easiest money in MMA history. He didn’t have to cut weight. He didn’t have to coach TUF or campaign for a “red panty night.” Turns out he didn’t even need to train except for the purposes of looking credible with his shirt off. All Holloway had to do was show up, wait for McGregor to topple like a Jenga tower, then collect his check.
Can’t hate on the man for that. After all his years in this game, maybe he deserves a gimme. But please, spare me with that trilogy talk. Telling a crowd that just paid so much for tickets that they pushed the UFC to a record live gate (for a record nothing fight) that you plan to do it again in order to get that money? Yeesh. It’s like giving a restaurant full of people food poisoning and then apologizing by telling them they’re welcome to come back and pay full price another day. Read the room, big dog.
3. Paddy Pimblett really, really, really needed that. And by that I mean not just a win, but a win over a name opponent and in a fashion that makes people go, well maybe he is a top lightweight after all. Benoit Saint Denis sure did his part to help. I can’t understand how someone could see Pimblett’s striking game in that Justin Gaethje fight back in January and then decide that the thing to do is shoot on him right away.
One thing we know Pimblett can do well is snatch a choke, especially early in a fight before things get too sweaty and slippery. If you give him that one opening, he doesn’t need another. Now booking him into a grudge match with put-up-or-shut-up vibes against Ilia Topuria feels like the easiest matchmaking decision of all time.
4. I’m still not sure what the ceiling is for Gable Steveson, but it seems like it might be way up there. The problem is what to do with him now. His win over the totally unheralded and unknown Elisha Ellison brought his pro record to just 4-0. He still hasn’t been out of the first round — or even into the final minute of the first round. Every opponent he’s faced was a nobody, chosen for his sheer squash match potential.
And yet … he does look good in there. He’s fast and athletic. He’s got a rapidly widening striking skillset to add to the wrestling skills he showed up with. He’s also a heavyweight, and at a time when having a little bit of coordination and a quick double-leg almost makes you instant contender material.
We still haven’t seen enough — against anybody good or experienced enough — to know for sure how far Steveson can go. And the UFC can’t keep setting him up in fights where he’s a 20-1 favorite forever. He’s going to have to face someone with a Wikipedia page soon, even if his record is still that of a novice fighter. At heavyweight, it won’t be long until you simply run out of warm bodies.
5. Robert Whittaker looked like a middleweight fighting a light heavyweight. Which is, of course, basically what he was. Just standing next to Nikita Krylov, it looked wrong. And there were definitely moments in the first round where the former 185-pound champ got pushed around a little bit. But then he settled into the fight and reminded us all that he’s still quite good at this fighting stuff. He’s also still quick enough to make a 205-pounder like Krylov look clumsy and ponderous, which turns out to be a good way to get a fight-ending crack on the jaw.
Whittaker can beat some of these light heavyweights. We know that now. But this fight did show us that weight classes are probably there for a reason. There might be some limitations on how far he can go in this new division, but at least for now it’s fun to watch. Plus it’s got to feel good to be on the happy end of a jaw-crunching finish this time.
