LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 10: Conor McGregor of Ireland walks through the arena before his lightweight bought against Dustin Poirier during UFC 264: Poirier v McGregor 3 at T-Mobile Arena on July 10, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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On Saturday, the UFC announced the return of Conor McGregor. The former two-division UFC champion is booked to headline the UFC 329 fight card during International Fight Week in Las Vegas. McGregor faces Max Holloway in that matchup. Holloway, a former UFC featherweight and BMF titleholder moves up to welterweight for the July 11 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The early betting odds for the upcoming matchup have Holloway as a substantial betting favorite over McGregor, who last competed in July 2021.
This is not the first time UFC CEO Dana White has announced a McGregor return to the cage. In April 2024, the UFC booked McGregor vs. Michael Chandler for the main event of UFC 303. A month later, White was happy with ticket sales for the event, saying UFC 303, which was booked for June 29, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, would be the first UFC card to have a live gate of $20 million or more.
Things fell apart in mid-June when McGregor withdrew from UFC 303 because of a broken toe. The card, which was headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between then-champion Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka, drew a live gate of $15,909,243.
UFC 306 became the first card to top the $20 million live gate number. That event, at Sphere in Las Vegas drew $21,829,245 on an attendance of 16,024.
Ticket prices for UFC 329 have not been announced. The fight card anchors International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
The 37-year-old McGregor (22-6) is 1-3 since October 2018. His most recent win was a January 2020 TKO victory over Donald Cerrone. He is coming off back-to-back TKO losses to Dustin Poirier. McGregor’s most recent fight, his July 2021 loss to Poirier, came after a broken leg left McGregor unable to continue.
Holloway has fought eight times since McGregor’s last UFC outing, he is 5-3 in those bouts. Losing title fights to Charles Oliveira (symbolic BMF belt), Ilia Topuria (featherweight), and Alex Volkanovski (featherweight). The 34-year-old’s wins came against Yair Rodriguez, Arnold Allen, Korean Zombie, Justin Gaethje (for the BMF title), and Dustin Poirier (defense of the BMF title).
McGregor and Holloway first met at 145 pounds in August 2013. McGregor won that contest via decision.
When the betting odds for the rematch opened, Holloway was listed as the -550 favorite over the +420 McGregor. Today, Holloway is listed at -400, while McGregor checks in as the +330 betting underdog.
We will have more on UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2 as fight night nears.
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