Round 1
McGregor swipes at Holloway with a variety of kicks in the opening moments while the Hawaiian switches between southpaw and orthodox stances. McGregor is sticking punches in the face of Holloway, who’s being backed up toward the fence by the long strikes. A corkscrew uppercut clips Holloway’s chin as McGregor continues to throw all manner of funky strikes. McGregor has a left high kick blocked but lands a left hand behind it. Midway through the opening round and Holloway is still stuck on the outside; he finally comes off it 30 seconds later with some leg kicks that leave McGregor shrugging and waving his opponent forward. An uppercut from McGregor is answered by an overhand right by Holloway, who follows up with a wheel kick that goes off the Irishman’s shoulder. A straight left from McGregor seems to wobble Holloway with seconds left in the opening round. McGregor cartwheels toward the outside and finishes the frame holding Holloway on the fence.
Round 2
McGregor lunges in with a straight left, steps out and gets touched with a kick to the body. Holloway sticks a couple jabs through McGregor’s guard and continues to circle the outside while McGregor presses forward with kicks both low and high. A straight left from McGregor bloodies Holloway’s nose, and McGregor claps to call Holloway forward. Holloway gets caught leaning with a clean uppercut to the mush, but he catches McGregor coming in seconds later with a nice hook. McGregor catches a kick and slugs Holloway with a straight left before tripping him to the ground. Holloway holds him in half-guard at first, but McGregor swims through in the last 30 seconds and passes to side control on the left.
Round 3
McGregor has Holloway back on the ground in short order to start round three, and the Irishman advances to full mount after 90 seconds. Just as he gets there, Holloway sweeps and tries to stand, but McGregor is waiting with another takedown to half-guard. McGregor gets back to full mount and flattens out Holloway, using both hands to slap at the sides of the Hawaiian’s head. Holloway starts to roll over, allowing McGregor to sit up and drop heavy punches. McGregor nearly takes the back, but Holloway rolls to his back again and uses his arms to try and negate the space. Holloway slips out the back and eats a knee on the way back up, then catches McGregor with a head kick. McGregor hits another takedown with 35 seconds left and finishes the fight on top.