Hawaii football fans have their Sugar Bowl. Hawaii’s UFC fans now have their Holloway/McGregor fight.

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Hawaii football fans have their Sugar Bowl. Hawaii’s UFC fans now have their Holloway/McGregor fight.

There’s obviously one big difference. The Rainbow Warriors got crushed by Georgia on New Year’s Day in 2008, 41-10.

Holloway, on the other hand, made the biggest payday of his career — more than $3 million — an easy win when the returning Conor McGregor couldn’t continue 69 seconds into the fight with an injury that has yet to be officially announced.

It worked out perfectly for Max, but for anyone who made the trip to the ninth island or paid into what was the highest gate in UFC history at about $25 million, the main event of UFC 329 was a dud.

Holloway was in a tough spot all week against the return of the biggest star the UFC has ever created, but as a few boos rang out when Bruce Buffer announced Holloway as a winner, it got even more cringe when Holloway called for a third fight against McGregor, followed by, “let’s get this (expletive) money boys.”

I’m not sure how many people will buy in to a third Holloway/McGregor fight, much less any McGregor fight.

The hotels were full on the strip, the celebrities came out in droves for fight night and social media numbers suggest there was more interest in this fight than the recently completed White House card.

But there was something missing in the arena at T-Mobile Arena for that main event.

Holloway came out to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s Hawaii ’78, bringing back memories of B.J. Penn’s heyday, before transitioning to Moke Boy’s Hawaiian Kickboxer.

Conor McGregor didn’t change anything in his traditional walkout, first paying tribute to his home country of Ireland before “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G. hit the speakers.

There were certainly cheers, but it wasn’t what I expected. We didn’t get the typical roar as Holloway’s song changed and while most of the fans in attendance were pro-McGregor, it was missing that passionate Irish fan base that used to travel wherever he went.

Passion.

That’s the word I was looking for when asking what was missing.

I thought the atmosphere surrounding this fight would easily at least be on par with Penn’s famous grudge match against Georges St-Pierre at the much smaller MGM Grand Garden Arena across the street 17 years ago.

It didn’t feel close and any old video I could find online of those entrances from ’09 validated that.

Is it just because everyone is too busy filming everything on their phones? When UFC President Dana White walked past the media section in the middle of the card, both media members on either side of me pulled out their phones to get a picture and instantly raced to post on Instagram.

I couldn’t help but look over the shoulder of the guy on my left who wrote on the photo, “THE BOSS Dana White!!!” Yes, an all caps boss and THREE exclamation points.

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McGregor brought out the stars and there were professional athletes everywhere you looked.

Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams were sitting to my left and getting pestered from fans behind the floor for photos.

One kid screamed “Jalen” at least 40 times wanting a selfie before finally an usher told him to beat it.

I’m an OKC fan and I wouldn’t even say hi if we were in the same elevator.

The vibe all week long just wasn’t right, even as a subdued McGregor walked to the cage. There was no screaming at the camera or locking eyes with Holloway before the introductions.

The press conference was fairly calm until the first stare down between the two. McGregor tossed Holloway’s shades toward the crowd and the two had to be separated. Maybe now we’re getting the McGregor we all remember.

It remained fairly normal at the weigh-ins, except for Conor taking all of that time to put on shoes before staring down Max. Why was it so important that he needed to wear those shoes?

Then comes the main event. It looks clear as day as McGregor is waiting to go through the pre-fight check before entering the Octagon, when he goes to take off his left shoe, he gingerly hops on one foot as if he couldn’t put any weight on it.

As soon as the bell sounded, he comes out doing this crazy jumping flying kick. Suddenly he can’t walk and the fight is over.

McGregor is reportedly getting paid at least $20 million for that 69 seconds of work while Holloway’s final tally is north of $3 million.

The biggest question moving forward is if McGregor was hurt before the fight. If so, fans and the public deserve an explanation.

Regardless of what exactly happened, I’m not sure we will ever see McGregor fight again. He didn’t look like a guy who wanted to be there. Five years is a long time away from the fight game, and your body is never quite the same.

Holloway says he won’t be back until 2027 and there is a lightweight title fight out there in a rematch with Justin Gaethje that makes sense.

Hopefully that’s the path Holloway goes instead of chasing the money, because I have no interest in a third one-legger McGregor fight.

Most of the disappointed and angry people who walked out of that arena with me on Saturday night certainly feel the same.

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