Conor McGregor Shits On Firas Zahabi, Top MMA Coach, For Saying Max Holloway Would Beat Him In A Rematch
Tonight, “The Notorious” Conor McGregor has taken aim at one of the most famous coaches and analysts that mixed martial arts has ever seen, Firas Zahabi (of TriStar Gym), for recently stating that Max Holloway would beat McGregor in a hypothetical rematch. Transcription of what Firas said can be found below courtesy of MMANews.com…
“If I had to pick Max Holloway vs. McGregor today, I would pick Max Holloway,” Zahabi said. “I think Holloway has grown leaps and bounds since then. In my opinion, Holloway would out-punch him, outwork him. He would do very much what Diaz did [to Conor McGregor], but more,” he said. “I think McGregor got away with a lot of stuff, like the leg kicks against Diaz, but I don’t think he’ll have that against Holloway.”
McGregor defeated Holloway via unanimous decision in 2013, a fight in which the Irishman tore his ACL completely in the second round. Here, Conor basically, more or less, used the annoying “if you don’t fight yourself, you can’t talk about fighting” cliche we see so often when fighters start taking counter-shots at media/non-competitors, but dressed it up enough that it’s sorta funny. I mean…downgrading one of the most respected brains the sport has ever seen to being a “clock hitter” who just “rents dorms” for a living is just so ridiculous you’ve gotta laugh.
I do also think it’s important to note that as much as I personally respect Zahabi and enjoy his breakdowns, I do believe he’s got some sorta vendetta against Conor McGregor. He picked against him leading into the Chad Mendes fight at UFC 189, Jose Aldo fight at UFC 194, Nate Diaz fight at UFC 196, Nate Diaz fight at UFC 202, and Eddie Alvarez fight at UFC 205, batting a ROUGH 1-for-5. Like, what the fuck? What’s this dude gonna have to do to earn Firas’ respect?!
I also think it’s important to bring up McGregor’s follow-up tweet, where he warns “All these young mouthy clock hitters.” to “Stay ready.”
If you’ve been paying any attention to The Champ Champ’s Instagram…
…you’d have noticed that he’s been in the gym A LOT recently, helping teammates (Peter Queally, mainly, it seems) prepare for their bouts at Bellator’s upcoming Dublin card in February. If he, his coaches, and Dana White’s word are to be believed, he’s been itching to get back in the cage since he stepped out of it at UFC 229, and with his Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing coming up at the end of the month, we could potentially be not too far away from finding out when that’ll be. So…stay tuned, I guess!