Conor McGregor Snatches Max Holloway's Sunglasses, Slaps Hand Away at UFC 329 Press Conference

Conor McGregor spent an hour being the most composed version of himself anyone has seen in years. He talked about personal growth, sang "Wonderwall" to the crowd, brought custom Irish championship belts to the stage and kept his answers measured and reflective.

It felt like the McGregor who admitted he "got lost" was the one sitting behind the microphone at Thursday night's UFC 329 press conference, but then the face off happened and all of that went out the window.

Conor McGregor, Max Holloway Brawl: Sunglasses Off, Hands Up

Conor McGregor and Max Holloway stepped up to the mark for the ceremonial stare down and it escalated immediately. McGregor reached over and ripped Holloway's sunglasses off his face, tossed them to the ground, then pressed his forehead directly into Holloway's. Dana White was standing right there and had to physically step between them.
But it didn't stop there. Holloway tried to extend a handshake and McGregor slapped his hand away. Holloway pulled back and said "What the..." before trailing off. Both fighters put their hands up and started feinting like they were about to throw. Security rushed in for the second time in about 30 seconds.

It took multiple people to pull them apart. Holloway kept his eyes locked on McGregor the entire time he was being walked away.

 Crowd Booed Max Holloway

Max Holloway is one of the most universally loved fighters in UFC history. He's the "it is what it is" guy, the BMF walkoff knockout guy. Fans adore him everywhere he goes, but not Thursday night. The T-Mobile Arena crowd was overwhelmingly pro-McGregor from the second he walked out. When Holloway took the stage he got booed loudly. Instead of fighting it, he leaned into it and embraced the villain role for what might be the first time in his entire career.
"No excuses come Saturday night," Holloway said. He wasn't rattled but the energy in the room was different and he knew it.

Conor McGregor Was Calm Until He Wasn't

The contrast between press conference McGregor and face off McGregor is what makes this interesting. For an hour he sat on stage and talked like a man who had genuinely changed, said he's back "for the love of the game and the love of fans," didn't go after Holloway's personal life, didn't trash talk like the old version of himself that went at Khabib Nurmagomedov's religion and Dustin' Poirier's wife.

 The staredown came and some switch flipped. The sunglasses, the slap, the feinting. That wasn't composed McGregor. That was the man who threw a dolly at a bus. After five years off, the trigger is still there.
The question of whether that intensity will be present in the Saturday night fight or will it burn him out even before stepping into the octagon is a topic of discussion for the whole world for the next two days. This is a version of Conor McGregor that Max Holloway has been training with a former welterweight champion for.

"We're coming in to win spectacularly," McGregor said earlier in the press conference. "This is for all the marbles. I'm coming in like a missile. I'm going to destroy Max. I'm going to eliminate Max."

There's less than 48 hours until we find out which version of Conor McGregor actually shows up inside the cage.