Conor McGregor’s team ‘pushed hard’ for different comeback fight before Max Holloway was selected

Max Holloway wasn’t the first choice opponent for Conor McGregor’s comeback fight.

While McGregor accepted every name thrown his way, his manager, Audie Attar, pushed hard for his client to face Michael Chandler in his return.

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McGregor had been booked to face Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024, but the fight collapsed after the former dual-weight UFC champion suffered a broken toe in sparring.

Attempts were then made to have the fight rescheduled to the main event of UFC Freedom 250, on the South Lawn of the White House.

McGregor even declared that the fight had been signed at the back end of last year.

However, in the end, Chandler would land a fight with Mauricio Ruffy at the unprecedented event, while Holloway was selected as McGregor’s opponent for his first fight in five years at UFC 329 on Saturday night.

Explaining how this came to be during an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show, Attar said: “Obviously, Chandler was number one because he really wanted to honour Chandler, right?

“He felt ‘This guy did TUF with me, we had this fight [which fell through]’ and he has respect for him.

“We tried to push very hard for Chandler, and it just didn’t make sense.

“And we pushed as far as we could go, but then when you look down the list, the Holloway rematch looked very interesting.

“Holloway just sounded very interesting. They fought early in their careers, they both have gone on to have great careers, and stylistically it makes for an exciting fight.”

Why did the Carlos Prates fight not come off?

After the Chandler fight was taken off the table, the UFC offered McGregor a fight with Carlos Prates.

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The Irishman gave the matchup the green light, but the idea was abandoned over concerns that it would not resonate with fans.

“I think Prates was an interesting one because the response wasn’t good from the fans,” added Atar.

“So you look at the sentiment, and you have to honour that as well. 

“It can’t just be about you thinking that you’re the matchmaker and you’re putting a matchup on that you think is best for the shield or whatnot.

“The fans reacted to that one…

“The guy has done a lot for the sport, so the opponent had to warrant that.”