Aljamain Sterling doesn't think Conor McGregor should face Max Holloway in a trilogy bout after UFC 329.
McGregor's comeback was spoiled by Holloway when he injured his knee from the first kick he threw at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. McGregor (22-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) ended up tearing his right ACL and meniscus in a TKO loss.
"The Notorious" was initially scheduled to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024, but a broken pinky toe delayed his return. Sterling says that's the fight that should be rebooked once McGregor heals from surgery.
"Not at the top level," Sterling said of McGregor in an interview with Ignition Poker. "I think you have to give him a matchup that's going to give him his confidence back, let him see where he's at and where he can
compete. He doesn't need to do anything crazy, just skill for skill. He doesn't need jumping moves or spinning back kicks. Just come in, see where your hands are, see how it feels to move and pivot, see if you've got that same bounce and see if you can compete with those guys. If you can't, that's going to be the real gauge. But you also don't want to take the risk of losing to a relatively unknown name and then losing a potential big fight that you could have had.
"At the same time, do you want to have the big fight and then get really, really hurt? It depends on him. The way I would do it is to come back in a matchup that makes sense. I don't want to call it a tune-up fight because all these guys are tough, but get a matchup that makes sense. I always said he should have come back and fought Chandler. That would have made more sense. Stylistically, it's good. Chandler isn't going to wrestle him. He's going to stand with him and want to make it entertaining. Then you have an opportunity to see if Conor is good enough to beat a guy like Chandler, who is good, but he's not at the top of the heap anymore at 155 or even 170, because I think Chandler said he wants to move up."
McGregor, who had competed for the first time in five years, insists he is not done. Sterling sees a plethora of options for his next fight.
"The possibilities for McGregor are endless," Sterling said. "He may not be 'Mystic Mac' anymore, but he's still Conor McGregor. People are going to tune in because they want to watch him and see what he's doing next. He's always going to have that aura and enigma about him. But the prospect who came in starching everybody and calling his shots, those days are probably done. If he can have one good fight, he can maybe turn back the clock a little bit, but it depends on how he looks in the performance. There's Nate Diaz, there's Jorge Masvidal, and there are so many good matchups. He could even fight Jake Paul. There are fun fights for him on the horizon.
"It just depends on whether the UFC gives him that fight sooner rather than later. Now, with this injury, he's probably going to have to undergo surgery. That's at least six months. I've seen guys come back in six months, so that's the minimum before he could come back and have confidence in it again. I don't know what that looks like, but he's going to need to do a lot to strengthen those ligaments on both knees because I believe it was the other one that popped this time, if I'm correct. He needs to make sure he balances that out and does everything he needs to get back into somewhat prime form for competition, not just training. It's one thing to fight and another thing to just be training."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Aljamain Sterling: McGregor should have returned vs. Chandler, not Holloway
