Conor McGregor spent the buildup to UFC 329 calling Max Holloway his “child.” Max’s actual child had the last word.
Rush Holloway, Max’s son, was cageside at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas when his dad finished McGregor via unanimous decision in what could most charitably be called a lopsided fight. As Conor sat on his stool unable to continue, Rush let him have it.
“Who’s your daddy? Who’s your daddy, now?” Rush shouted from cageside, loud enough to be captured on broadcast audio.
It was perfect. It was mean. It was exactly what Conor McGregor deserved for the tape he ran on the promotional trail. In the UFC 329 promo video, McGregor called Max his “child” and promised to “son him again,” a callback to their 2013 fight when Conor beat Max via unanimous decision as both were young lightweights coming up.
That was thirteen years ago. Both men were kids. Max has since become widely considered the greatest featherweight of all time. Conor has fought professionally three times in the last five years and spent more time on cell phones than in gyms.
The fight itself was an absolute dud. Just over a minute into the first round, McGregor’s leg gave out from a Holloway low kick, and the rest of the bout was a formality. McGregor could barely put weight on his back leg. Holloway carved him up with volume boxing and calf kicks. Fans who paid pay-per-view money to watch a competitive rematch got a squash match instead.
McGregor’s team will argue about the leg injury. That is fine. But at some point you have to admit that Conor McGregor at 38 years old is not the same fighter he was at 25. He has lost the hand speed. He has lost the footwork. And more importantly, he has lost the discipline that made him elite in the first place. You cannot spend a decade partying and expect to walk into a title fight and put on a masterclass.
The Rush moment tells the real story. This kid grew up watching his dad be disrespected by McGregor for over a decade. Conor never let go of that 2013 win. Every promotional tour, every interview, every press conference, Max’s name came up as Conor’s stepping stone. Now Max is arguably the featherweight GOAT and Conor is a shell of himself, and a teenager is asking who your daddy is.
The UFC has to figure out what to do with McGregor after this. Retirement makes the most sense. He has the money. He has the movies. He has the whiskey brand. Nobody actually wants to see him fight anymore because the results keep confirming what everyone suspects. But Dana White will keep offering him fights because Conor still sells pay-per-views, even bad ones.
Holloway walks away from this looking like a champion. He put on a show. He did not talk trash back at Conor. He let his kid do the talking after the fact, which was somehow more brutal than anything Max could have said himself.
UFC 329 was the definition of anticlimactic. But Rush Holloway made it worth the price of admission.
Who’s your daddy, indeed.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
