​Max Holloway evened the score with Conor McGregor at UFC 329, but the result didn’t unfold as cleanly as many anticipated. After taking a five-year hiatus from competition, the 37-year-old McGregor spent a mere 69 seconds inside the Octagon in his rematch with Holloway at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. From the outset, McGregor opened with a jumping switch kick, only for him to appear to injure his knee in a way that compromised his effectiveness for the rest of the brief fight. Holloway, 34, secured the stoppage when McGregor stepped back and winced in pain as he lifted his injured knee, signaling the end of the contest.
Following the bout, Holloway spoke at the UFC 329 post-fight press conference to address what many called an anticlimactic rematch. “I had the man weak in the knees, I guess,” Holloway quipped, before expressing concern for McGregor outside the cage. “All jokes aside, I just hope he’s good. I know Conor’s been battling some stuff. He looked like he’d really been changing. He found God, he had his kids in there. So, during the fight, you could obviously tell his demeanor changed.” He praised referee Mike Beltran for his intervention, noting that McGregor’s kids were seated close by and that he didn’t want the Irishman to suffer unnecessary damage. “You’ve got to stop the fight,” Holloway added.
Holloway also reflected on McGregor’s reputation for toughness. “But this is how crazy Conor is,” he said, recalling McGregor’s first tumble to the mat. “The first time he was on the ground he was like, ‘Fight, fight.’ Okay. So, that’s why I backed up. Stand up then, let’s fight. Then he fell back down and the fight was called.”
The two first met back in 2013, when both were rising featherweights. The matchup proved pivotal for McGregor’s ascent to superstardom, as he defeated Holloway by unanimous decision while competing with a torn ACL suffered mid-fight. Ahead of the weekend’s rematch, there was some light-hearted tension and trash talk, but Holloway emphasized he wasn’t out to harm McGregor after the opening exchanges. “We’re killers, but at the end of the day, I’m a human being,” Holloway stated. “That’s why I’m so loved in this sport, because I can actually separate the fighter from the person. When I saw him hurt, I was like, ‘Man, come on. You can call this.’ He was done, you know? He wanted to fight. Tried to stand up again — fell back down. I just wish him a speedy recovery. It’s all up to him. The man, like I said, is trying to change his life around. So, sending prayers his way.”
McGregor’s return bout followed a pattern similar to his 2021 clash with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, ending in a leg injury. While the latest setback seems less catastrophic than his leg fracture from the Poirier fight, it’s likely McGregor will need another extended layoff to recover. In the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s action, UFC commentary and analysts floated the possibility that McGregor entered the bout with an injury, noting footage of him hobbling in the inspection zone prior to stepping into the Octagon.
As the dust settled, Holloway’s victory added another notable chapter to a long-standing rivalry defined by resilience, grit, and occasional misfortune. Holloway’s win did not come with the dramatic finish some had hoped for, but it reinforced his status as a formidable force in the featherweight ranks at a time when McGregor was attempting a high-profile return to form.