It was in Boston in 2013 that Max Holloway and Conor McGregor fought for the first time in a featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night 26, with McGregor earning the win by unanimous decision.

The two are going to face each other again after 13 long years in a welterweight bout at UFC 329 on July 11, 2026, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Now, before the match, Holloway has given some glimpses of his training routine.

On June 26, the Instagram accounts of Transparent Lab and Holloway shared a short clip from the training video in which the striking coach of the former UFC featherweight champion, Ivan Flores, said,

“If you look at Max's physique in the first Conor fight, he still looked like a boy. It's almost a completely different human being than Max is right now.

I mean, it's going to be a night-and-day difference.”

So, Holloway was only 21 years old when he first fought McGregor, who was 25. By 2026, he held an impressive 29-7 record.

On the contrary, McGregor has a 22-6 record. The Notorious will return to the Octagon after a five-year gap due to a leg break he suffered in his last match against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

Flores also added, “I know Conor's going to be a different guy as well. I expect him to be the best version of himself. I think everyone's wondering what Conor's going to show up, but I think the question is more of, when Conor shows up, how is he going to deal with this modern-day Max Holloway?”

Now, for the answer to that question, we all have to wait until July 11, and in the meantime, Holloway’s training camp has included many movements, such as pull-ups, boxing drills, and kettlebell exercises.

Apart from that, another piece of footage of Holloway showed he has the right approach.

Max Holloway's bulked-up physique before the Conor McGregor fight

On June 19, the Home of Fight X account shared a post showing Holloway practicing with former welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena.

The post reads, “👀 New footage of Max Holloway and Jack Della Maddalena sparring. Holloway’s welterweight debut is upon us, 3 weeks out 👊.”

According to Men's Fitness, the footage showed Holloway looking bigger in an unnatural way. According to the article, “Some fighters move up a weight class and look bloated and uncomfortable, but Max looks like he is doing it the right way.”

The report also said, “Throughout Holloway’s career, he has gradually added more size to his frame, but it will be interesting to see how he officially does at welterweight. He was big for the featherweight class, but struggled against some larger lightweights like Dustin Poirier.”

So, he may now be able to use that weight against his opponent.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil