The most anticipated rematch of 2026 is officially locked. Conor McGregor and Max Holloway will fight for the second time at UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This time, it is at welterweight, thirteen years after their first meeting.
McGregor beat Holloway by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 26 back in August 2013. Both fighters were early in their careers. Holloway was 21. McGregor was 25 and still finding his way to the top. That fight established McGregor as a real contender and gave Holloway a data point he has spent a decade trying to erase.
The rematch is a very different story. McGregor is now 22-6 in his professional career, coming off a comeback attempt that has been uneven at best. He has not looked like the same fighter since the Khabib Nurmagomedov era ended. But he is still, undeniably, the biggest name in the sport.
Holloway is 27-9 and one of the greatest featherweights in UFC history. He is also, at 34, coming off some of the best performances of his career. His fight IQ has never been sharper. His striking is more nuanced than it was at 21. If he can catch McGregor with the same combinations that finished the Justin Gaethje BMF title fight, this could end badly for the Irishman.
The co-main event is another storyline. Red-hot contender Benoit Saint-Denis takes on Paddy Pimblett, and the result of that fight will likely determine the next lightweight title challenger. Both are must-see stylistic matchups.
Making sense of the odds is a full-time job. Holloway opened as a betting favorite, which some fans found surprising. Vegas remembers 2013, but the sportsbooks are running current-form models. Holloway’s activity, output, and cardio all read better on paper.
The public storyline, however, is McGregor. It always is. His pre-fight interviews have been vintage McGregor, sharp, insulting, and just believable enough to sell tickets. He is claiming his boxing is at a new level after training with a mystery American coach. Nobody has seen the tape. Everybody wants to.
Welterweight is an interesting weight for McGregor. He fought at 170 pounds in the Nate Diaz series and looked comfortable there. His frame has always been better suited to fighting bigger than smaller. If he is truly walking around at 175 to 180, he could have real pop on his shots.
The T-Mobile Arena will be sold out. The pay-per-view numbers will be enormous. And if McGregor delivers even 60 percent of the version everyone remembers, this ends up as one of the most-watched UFC events of the last decade.
The rematch is on. The stakes are legacy for both. And Vegas, as always, will be electric.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
