Conor McGregor is officially back. The biggest star in MMA history will take on fellow legend and former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 to culminate International Fight Week. The UFC confirmed the fight on social media. Was there any coincidence the announcement happened during Netflix’s stream of MVP MMA 1? Of course not.
- Event: UFC 329
- Date: Saturday, July 11, 2026
- Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas (International Fight Week)
- Main Event: Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2
- Weight Class: Welterweight (170 lbs)
- Format: Five 5-minute rounds
- Co-Main Event: Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Paddy Pimblett (lightweight)
- Broadcast: Paramount+ PPV main card
- McGregor’s Last Fight: UFC 264 (July 10, 2021) — TKO loss to Dustin Poirier
- Holloway’s Last Fight: UFC 326 (March 2026) — UD loss to Charles Oliveira
- First Meeting: UFC Fight Night 26 — August 17, 2013, 145 lbs, McGregor UD (30-27 across all cards)
When And Where Will McGregor Vs. Holloway 2 Take Place?
The card will broadcast on Paramount+ as part of the UFC’s new media-rights structure, with the main card starting in the standard 10 p.m. ET window. While UFC Freedom is expecting to do great numbers, it is easy to argue this show could outperform the White House show.
The timing puts the fight just one day after the five-year anniversary of McGregor’s last appearance in the Octagon — the broken-leg loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 on July 10, 2021. That’s a marketing layup the UFC isn’t going to let slip past it.
What Weight Class Is The McGregor Vs. Holloway Rematch?
The fight is booked at welterweight (170 lbs), confirmed in the UFC’s official announcement graphic. This is McGregor’s natural walk-around weight after years out of competition, and it’s the same weight class he competed at against Donald Cerrone and Dustin Poirier in his last few outings.
For Holloway, this is the first welterweight bout of his career after spending nearly all of his UFC run at featherweight and the past year at lightweight. There had been reporting from MMA Mania that McGregor’s team was still pushing for a three-round main event, but the final UFC announcement confirms the standard five-round format.
What Happened In The First McGregor Vs. Holloway Fight?
The two first met on August 17, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 26 (Shogun vs. Sonnen) at 145 pounds.
McGregor won a clean unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three scorecards, by leaning heavily on wrestling and control time after suffering a torn ACL early in the fight. He out-landed Holloway in significant strikes and registered multiple takedowns with over six minutes of control time.
Holloway was 21 years old in that fight and still building his profile. He responded to the loss by going on a 13-fight unbeaten streak that included winning the UFC featherweight championship and cementing himself as one of the best featherweights of all time. McGregor used the win as the launching pad for his run to the featherweight title and the LDM era that followed.
Who Else Is On The UFC 329 Card?
The co-main event is locked at lightweight and it could steal the show as the Fight of the Night. Benoit Saint-Denis will take on Paddy Pimblett.
BSD enters on a four-fight winning streak after finishing Dan Hooker at UFC 325, and Pimblett gives him the highest-profile name available outside the title picture. Pimblett is trying to bounce back from a loss to Justin Gaethje in his last fight.
That fight with BSD has obvious 155-pound title-elimination implications.
The remainder of the card is still being finalized, but the announcement timing — dropped during the UFC Vegas 117 broadcast and right as Francis Ngannou was walking to the cage on Netflix’s MVP MMA 1 — sets the stage for the rest of the bouts to drop in a heavy promotional cycle leading into July.
Expect the full card to be revealed over the next two to three weeks.
