Max Holloway Talks Potential Conor McGregor Fight, EA Sports UFC 6 Cover and More in B/R Interview

UFC star Max Holloway may have lost his BMF championship in his last fight, but he could be in for an even bigger prize this summer.

Despite losing his BMF title to Charles Oliveira in a one-sided affair in the main event of UFC 326 in March, Holloway has been reported as the frontrunner to face UFC megastar Conor McGregor in his highly anticipated return fight during the annual International Fight Week on July 11.

Besides the allure of the illustrious "red panty night," facing McGregor would mean much more to Holloway, who has made it clear that he would welcome the opportunity to finally avenge a 2013 loss against the Irishman.

"A Conor fight is huge, man. There's a lot of fun fights for me in the division right now, but the Conor fight, it's Conor McGregor," Holloway told Bleacher Report. "That would be a fun fight, for sure. And we have history, so that's the reason why. The competitiveness in me, I gotta right that wrong. I know that fight was so long ago, but to be able to get one back on him would be amazing."

While nothing is official, Holloway's longtime friend, UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, previously reported that the 34-year-old is already in the gym training for a potential fight against McGregor. Uncrowned's Ariel Helwani reported that the UFC is still targeting their fight to be the main event of UFC 329 this summer.

"We'll see what happens, that would be fun. When it comes to Conor, that would be a fun fight. I know that it's a big fight, but I've always said to everybody, I want to get my get-back. Everybody who got one over me, and if they're still fighting and I'm able to get that get-back, I want to get one back," Holloway said. "We'll see what happens. I've been hearing everything you guys have been hearing through the internet, the UFC hasn't really hit me up or talked to me about stuff yet. If that fight is there, that would be a huge fight, a fun fight. The UFC is looking to put on the biggest fights, and I feel like that's one of the biggest fights to put on right now."

Holloway was still about four months away from his 22nd birthday when he faced McGregor for the first time at UFC Fight Night in Boston. He suffered a unanimous decision loss that helped kick off McGregor's monumental rise to superstardom, but he also learned a valuable lesson. That loss was Holloway's last before his iconic 13-fight win streak from 2014 to 2018, which included winning the undisputed featherweight championship and setting numerous UFC records along the way.

"I remember being there in Boston at the TD Garden. We were about to walk out, and this is crazy, they hold our walkouts and showed our walkouts on TV. ... That was his second fight in the UFC, to see how much power [he had], and the fans were going crazy... To see that, I was like, 'Holy s--t,'" Holloway recalled. "That was pretty cool, and I was thinking like, 'This is huge, we gotta buckle in if we want to get to this level. Lock it in.' I was blessed enough to go on the streak I had and be able to win the undisputed title."

As for how a fight against McGregor would play out in 2026, Holloway had a simple prediction.

"I think the fans are gonna be the true winners, to be honest," he said. "I think it would be huge, and a fun fight, man."

McGregor hasn't fought since suffering a broken ankle in his second straight loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. The former two-division champion has routinely been posting training videos, and Holloway isn't taking him lightly despite the five-year layoff.

"I've been seeing some videos. He's been looking good, he's been looking fast, he looks bigger than usual. I saw that sparring session that he had during St. Patty's Day. Yeah, Conor's Conor, man," Holloway said. "He's good, he's athletic, he's smart. He's a fighter, he knows how to fight and he's pretty damn good at it. He's been looking good, and I think lately what he's been showing is that he actually might be coming to fight, so that would be cool."

Holloway is especially looking forward to returning to the Octagon to bounce back from his loss to Oliveira, who is now 1-1 against him. Despite losing all five rounds, Holloway isn't making any excuses for how that fight played out.

"When I had performances like that, I was pretty pissed when the opponent would go out and be like this and that. I can give you a list of what was going on, what happened through my eyes or how I felt. But I'm on the losing side, I'm just gonna sound like a poor loser, I'm not here to do that," he said. "At the end of the day, we both want to get to the end goal, and that's the undisputed title. He fought the way that he needed to fight to position himself one step closer to that title and to that goal. All respect to him."

That type of attitude is part of the Hawaiian charm that has endeared Holloway to fans over his legendary career. In addition to being a future Hall of Famer, his UFC legacy was further cemented when he was announced as the cover star of the forthcoming EA Sports UFC 6 Ultimate Edition, which will be released on June 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

"I'm on the cover of a video game, it's insane. I've been playing games since I was a kid. I've been playing Madden, I've been playing MLB The Show, I've been playing all these sports games growing up, and then of course shooters and stuff," Holloway said. "But especially playing Madden and seeing guys becoming cover athletes, like this is sick, this is the dream. Now, it's here. It's unreal, man. I'm blessed, I'm excited, I can't wait. It's amazing, this is what you dream of, this is what kids dream of, being on the cover of a video game. It's here now, and it's a blessing."

Holloway had high praise for the developers of the latest installment of UFC's video game series for capturing his likeness and movements. He said he's looking forward to rewriting some history against some old rivalries when EA Sports UFC 6 officially drops next month.

"I gotta get my get-back for that last fight, that was terrible, so we gotta get Charles back, a bunch of times," he said with a laugh. "And then we have Alex Volkanovski that I need to get back a bunch of times, too, so we're gonna go HAM in that. All jokes aside, I just can't wait. I was able to play it, and if you're a gamer and you've been playing the UFC's now, man, you're gonna be in for a treat."

The video game will hopefully help appease UFC fans who have vocalized their displeasure with the state of the company in 2026. Many have grown disenchanted with the oversaturation of fights and the lack of new stars.

As a veteran and one of the greatest fighters of his generation, Holloway views the changes in the UFC as a natural evolution, and he feels that there's still enough out there to keep fans interested and excited.

"It's hard. It's hard to please everybody, and at the end of the day, I think the UFC is doing a good job," Holloway said. "Can they put on fights all the time like UFC 300? They can't. That's just what it is. A lot of these fans that are complaining are the fans that have been fans for a while. So I think they're seeing their favorites come to the point where they're retiring or leaving, so their favorites aren't turning around and fighting as much as they used to. And then some of this new generation is not fighting as much as the older generation would.

"I think it's in a great spot, though," he continued. "There's a lot more money in the sport, a lot more eyes on the sport. Of course, the OGs are gonna be mad about certain things, but what do you expect? The UFC puts on an event almost every weekend. To have banger after banger after banger cards is very hard. But at the end of the day, I think they're doing a great job. A lot of cards that people have been like, 'What the hell is this card?' are usually the cards that are smacking and killing it. It's crazy."

Holloway acknowledged that there's a lack of new stars, but he pointed out that it's a different landscape when it comes to building yourself organically the way that he, McGregor and others did.

"We're just in different times, right? You can do it in different ways. A bunch of people, they like fighting a bunch, and that's how they got big. Nowadays, people like streaming, people like teaming up with streamers, they like teaming up with content creators," he said. "I think there are different ways to get into it now, especially with social media being so huge and having such a platform. ... I think there's multiple ways people can do it, you just need to find out what way you want to do it and stick to your guns."

As for his own career, Holloway still hasn't lost sight of his goal of winning the undisputed lightweight championship. If he's successful in his potential fight against McGregor, he would be right back in the mix for the likes of Oliveira, interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje and reigning champion Ilia Topuria.

"100 percent," Holloway said when asked about his goal of becoming a two-division undisputed champion. "I have history with the man holding title. I have history with the man holding the interim title. I have history with the man holding the BMF title."

Still, as he's set to turn 35 this year, Holloway admitted that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. While he's looking forward to adding to his multitude of UFC records, he's also gearing up for the next chapter of his life.

"Of course, you can't fight forever, and I'm not gonna believe and tell you here that I'm gonna fight until I'm 60, that's just insane," Holloway said. "I got a great team around me, great people around me, saved up for after fighting, we're in that process now. But at the end of the day, I feel as long as I'm competing with the highest in the division, that's what I want to do. As soon as I figure out I can't do that or an undisputed title is not in sight, then maybe it's time to go do something else."