UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2 · July 11, 2026 · Welterweight (170 lbs) · 5R
McGregor vs Holloway
The Single Shot Against the Flood
McGregor returns after five years and a broken leg, betting everything on the same left hand. Holloway moves up in weight carrying the highest volume in UFC history and a chin that's been finished just twice in thirty-six fights. Five seconds against twenty-five minutes.
Conor "The Notorious" McGregor
22-6-0 · Former FW & LW Champ
Max "Blessed" Holloway
27-9-0 · Former FW & BMF Champ
In 30 seconds
Max Holloway wins by Decision
- 5years without a fight. McGregor returns after breaking his leg at UFC 264, against the most active man at the topFive years of rust against a man who fought four months ago
- 2times Holloway has been stopped in 36 pro fights (Topuria and his 2012 debut). One of the most durable chins in historyAnd McGregor's plan A is precisely the knockout
- 7.24significant strikes per minute for Holloway, against 5.32 for McGregor, and he accelerates in the championship roundsThe volume McGregor has to silence early, or drown in it for 25 minutes
The key to the fight
THE DECIDING POINT
Five Seconds Against Twenty-Five Minutes
Conor McGregor walks back into the Octagon after five years away, and the math isn't kind to him. The last time he fought, at UFC 264 in July 2021, he broke his leg and left on a stretcher. Before that, two straight TKO losses to Dustin Poirier.
Since he flattened Eddie Alvarez for the belt in 2016, his record reads 1-3, and the lone win came against a faded Cerrone in 40 seconds, more than six years ago. At 37, days from turning 38, with a patched-up leg and a full season of rust, he carries exactly one thing that still frightens people: the left hand.
A southpaw straight, a 74-inch reach, and the frame of a natural welterweight who's already fought at 170 against Diaz and Cerrone. McGregor's plan A fits inside the first 10 minutes. If the left lands clean early, his name is worth what it used to be. If it doesn't, the trouble starts.
Across from him stands the exact opposite of an easy man to knock out. Max Holloway has been stopped just twice in thirty-six pro fights: once in his 2012 debut, submitted by Poirier, and once by knockout, only in October 2024, when champion Ilia Topuria landed the perfect shot.
Outside those two moments, a concrete chin and the highest striking volume in UFC history, 7.24 significant strikes per minute, an engine that accelerates in the championship rounds instead of dying.
The caveat is honest: Holloway moves up to welterweight for the first time, gives up five inches of reach and faces a naturally bigger, heavier-handed man. He walks forward, always, and walking forward into McGregor's left is the only way to lose this fight early.
But if he survives the first two rounds, the whole equation flips. Volume, cardio, activity, age: everything past the 10-minute mark belongs to the Hawaiian. It's five seconds against twenty-five minutes.
Tale of the Tape
| McGregor | Tale of the Tape | Holloway |
|---|---|---|
| 37 years old | AgeMcGregor turns 38 three days after the fight and returns from 5 years off. Holloway, 34, fought 4 months ago | 34 years old |
| 5'9" | HeightOddly enough, Holloway is two inches taller | 5'11" |
| 74" | ReachMcGregor carries a 5-inch reach edge. A big deal in a striking match | 69" |
| Southpaw | Stance | Orthodox (switches often) |
| SBG Ireland | Gym | Hawaii Elite MMA |
| 5 years (broken leg, Jul 2021) | Time Since Last FightThe number that sums up the fight. Five years and a broken leg against the most active man at the top | 4 months (Mar 2026) |
Current form
Opponent caliber in recent fights
| Fighter | Date | Opponent | Result | Method | Opponent caliber |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conor McGregor | Nov 2016 | Eddie Alvarez | W | KO R2 | 5 |
| Conor McGregor | Oct 2018 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | L | Submission R4 | 5 |
| Conor McGregor | Jan 2020 | Donald Cerrone | W | TKO R1 | 2 |
| Conor McGregor | Jan 2021 | Dustin Poirier | L | TKO R2 | 5 |
| Conor McGregor | Jul 2021 | Dustin Poirier | L | TKO R1 (injury) | 5 |
| Max Holloway | Aug 2023 | Chan Sung Jung | W | TKO R3 | 3 |
| Max Holloway | Apr 2024 | Justin Gaethje | W | KO R5 | 5 |
| Max Holloway | Oct 2024 | Ilia Topuria | L | KO R3 | 5 |
| Max Holloway | Jul 2025 | Dustin Poirier | W | Unanimous Decision | 4 |
| Max Holloway | Mar 2026 | Charles Oliveira | L | Unanimous Decision | 5 |
Conor McGregor · Five Years of Ring Rust
This is where the thesis gets uncomfortable to defend. McGregor hasn't fought since July 2021, when he broke his leg at UFC 264 and left on a stretcher, his second straight loss to Poirier after the TKO at UFC 257.
He was rebooked for UFC 303 in 2024 against Chandler and pulled out with a broken toe in training, the first withdrawal of his career. Add it all up: 37 years old, five years inactive, a surgically repaired leg, and a 1-3 record since 2016 with the only win over a declining Cerrone.
What holds him up is what always has: the left hand, the name, the reach, and the fact that he's a natural welterweight who's fought at 170. But that's knockout potential, not momentum. Momentum he does not have.
Max Holloway · Active Elite
Holloway is the picture of active elite. He's coming off a loss, sure, but what a loss: a wrestling clinic from Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 in March that took his BMF belt without ever rattling his chin, 50-45 on all three cards.
Before that, he defended the BMF beating Poirier in the American's farewell, knocked out Gaethje in the final second of round 5 at UFC 300, and has been stopped by strikes exactly once in his life, by champion Topuria on a perfect shot.
His two recent losses spell out the only two blueprints to beat Holloway: one-shot power (Topuria) or dominant wrestling (Oliveira). McGregor brings the first, not the second. The caveat is the welterweight debut and the natural wear of a long career, but he fought four months ago and the volume is still absurd.
Level of competition
Conor McGregor
Average opponent level (1 to 5)4
Record10W-4L (71%)
Against the top 53W-2L
Max Holloway
Average opponent level (1 to 5)5
Record23W-9L (72%)
Against the top 55W-5L
Level of competition tells a curious story here, and it leans toward Holloway, not the bigger name. McGregor's great wins (Aldo in 13 seconds, Alvarez for the belt, Mendes for the interim) are ten years old or more. He hasn't beaten a top-10 fighter since 2017.
Holloway, by contrast, hasn't stopped facing the upper tier: Volkanovski three times, Topuria, Gaethje, Poirier, Oliveira, all in recent years. The two men share two opponents and one direct history. Both beat Jose Aldo (McGregor once, Holloway twice, defending the featherweight belt).
Both crossed with Dustin Poirier (McGregor 1-2, Holloway 1-1). And they've already fought: in August 2013, in Boston, McGregor won a unanimous decision. But that was thirteen years ago, both were prospects, and McGregor fought much of it with a torn ACL, leaning on his wrestling to control. It says little about 2026.
Stats
Sig. Strikes per MinuteHolloway pours on volume, McGregor is more economical and hunts the clean shot
Striking Accuracy (%)Accuracy is even. McGregor aims for the knockout, Holloway for accumulation
Strikes Absorbed/Min (lower is better)McGregor absorbs more and defends worse. In a firefight, that weighs against him
Striking Defense (%)
Takedowns per 15 MinWrestling numbers are irrelevant here: neither man wants this on the mat
Takedown Accuracy (%)
Takedown Defense (%)Holloway's takedown defense dipped after the Oliveira clinic, but McGregor is no wrestler
Submissions per 15 Min
How they win and lose
Conor McGregor
- KO/TKO 86% (19)
- Submission 5% (1)
- Decision 9% (2)
- KO/TKO 33% (2)
- Submission 67% (4)
- Decision 0% (0)
Max Holloway
- KO/TKO 44% (12)
- Submission 7% (2)
- Decision 49% (13)
- KO/TKO 11% (1)
- Submission 11% (1)
- Decision 78% (7)
The win profiles are opposites, and they define the method. McGregor is the pure finisher: 19 of 22 wins by knockout, 86%, almost always with the left and almost always early. Just 2 decisions in his whole career. He needs the impact.
Holloway wins another way, 13 of his 27 wins by decision and 12 by knockout, but his knockouts are born of accumulation and wear (Gaethje in round 5), not one shot. For the method that's everything: McGregor has to end it fast, Holloway builds.
If the fight stretches, it drifts onto the turf of the man who knows how to win on volume.
This is the heart of the thesis. McGregor's 6 losses ALL came by finish: 4 submissions (including Khabib and Diaz) and 2 TKOs (Poirier, his two most recent). He's never lost a decision, meaning when McGregor loses, he gets stopped, not just outscored, and his latest losses were by strikes, a chin flag at 38.
Holloway is the exact opposite: 9 losses, but 7 by decision, 1 knockout (Topuria) and 1 submission (his 2012 debut). Stopped just twice in 36 fights. When Holloway loses, he loses on the cards, almost never hurt.
The cruel detail for McGregor: his plan A is the knockout, and the man in front of him is one of the hardest to finish in the sport's history.
Skills
Where each fighter has the edge
1. Knockout PowerEdge: McGregor (2/5)
McGregor's southpaw left is the most dangerous weapon in the fight over the first minutes. 19 of his 22 wins came by knockout. One shot changes everything.
2. Size & ReachEdge: McGregor (2/5)
Natural welterweight, a 5-inch reach edge and real experience at 170 (Diaz, Cerrone). Holloway is debuting in the class giving up size.
3. Volume & OutputEdge: Holloway (4/5)
Holloway owns the highest volume in UFC history, 7.24 significant strikes per minute, and the output climbs round by round. McGregor can't match that pace.
4. Cardio & Championship RoundsEdge: Holloway (5/5)
A glaring gap. Holloway has the best gas tank in the division and knocked a man out in the final second of round 5. McGregor, at 38 and after 5 years, has broken down late in multiple fights.
5. Durability & ChinEdge: Holloway (3/5)
Holloway has been finished just 2 times in 36 fights. McGregor took two straight TKOs from Poirier and all 6 of his career losses came by finish.
6. Activity & Ring RustEdge: Holloway (4/5)
Holloway fought 4 months ago. McGregor returns from 5 years and a surgically repaired leg, and already withdrew from his 2024 booking with a broken toe. Ring rust is a huge factor.
McGregor owns two categories, power and size, and both are exactly the raw material of the upset: danger concentrated in the early rounds. Holloway owns the four that decide long fights: volume, cardio, durability and activity. If the Irishman doesn't cash the power early, everything else belongs to the Hawaiian. This fight is a referendum on whether the left hand arrives before the clock does.
Full prediction
The thesis
The thesis is: Max Holloway wins because the fight is decided in everything that isn't the first ten minutes, and all of it belongs to him.
He fought four months ago while McGregor returns from five years and a broken leg, he owns the highest volume in UFC history (7.24 strikes per minute) and the cardio that accelerates in round five, and he's been stopped by strikes exactly once in 36 fights against a McGregor whose six career losses all came by finish.
McGregor's plan is one-dimensional and well known: the southpaw left, early, exploiting the 5-inch reach and the natural welterweight frame, before the gas tank and the age come due.
Holloway's path is to survive the danger window of the first two rounds without walking straight into the left, then pour on volume, stretch the fight and turn the gulf in activity, cardio and pace into an avalanche on the cards, with the late TKO live if the Irishman's leg or lungs give out.
It breaks down if McGregor's left lands clean early, because Holloway's chin has already proven it can be cracked by a perfect shot, that's what Topuria did.
Conviction 7 because the thesis leans on four distinct, concrete dimensions, not loose stats and odds.
Activity (four months versus five years), cardio (the best in the division against a 38-year-old who has faded late repeatedly), durability (stopped 2 times in 36 fights against a McGregor finished in all 6 of his losses, the last two by strikes) and volume (7.24 per minute, a UFC all-time record).
It doesn't become an 8 for two honest reasons: McGregor's one-shot power is real and the Topuria knockout shows this chin can be cracked, and Holloway is debuting at welterweight giving up size, a scenario we've never seen from him.
This isn't a market read, though the market agrees: the edge comes from documented activity, cardio and durability, not the line.
I don't float the underdog to 45-55 because, unlike a healthy underdog with a stylistic path, McGregor executes that path with five years of rust, 38 years of age and a surgically repaired leg, which caps his ceiling closer to the market's 30% than to a coin-flip.
What breaks the thesis
- If McGregor's left lands clean in round 1 or 2, Holloway's cardio, volume and durability never enter the equation. The Topuria knockout proves the chin can go with the right shot.
- If the move up to welterweight truly weighs, Holloway gives up 5 inches of reach and faces the heaviest hands of his career in a new weight class. Size and power could change the chin math.
- If McGregor is genuinely in shape and the repaired leg holds, his reach and power close the technical distance faster than five years of rust suggests.
The underdog's path
McGregor doesn't need an elaborate plan, he needs the left. He uses the 5-inch reach to measure distance, forces Holloway to cross the line of fire (the Hawaiian always crosses it) and lands the southpaw cross on the chin, exactly the way he did to Alvarez. If he connects clean in the first two rounds, before cardio becomes a factor and while his own tank is still full, the T-Mobile Arena erupts and the comeback story completes itself.
- Land the left clean on Holloway's chin in the first two rounds, before the fight stretches
- Use the 5-inch reach and the welterweight experience to dictate range, not become a stationary target
- Show up genuinely in shape: if the repaired leg and the cardio hold through the first ten minutes, the power stays live
- Close the show early, because from round 3 on Holloway's volume and gas tank become an avalanche that can't be held back