McGregor set for UFC return against Holloway after five-year hiatus

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor is scheduled to return to mixed martial arts competition on 11 July, facing Max Holloway in a non-title welterweight bout at UFC 329 in Las Vegas. The contest marks the Irish fighter’s first appearance in five years, following a broken leg sustained during his defeat by Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

The matchup serves as a rematch of their initial encounter in August 2013, a featherweight contest that McGregor won by points. At the time of that first fight, McGregor had competed in only one UFC bout, while Holloway was making his 10th professional appearance. The current bout sees McGregor, a former two-division champion, step into the welterweight division against Holloway, who has permanently moved to the lightweight division.

Holloway, 34, holds a professional record of 27-9 and is 1-1 since shifting to the lightweight division in 2025. His most recent appearance was a five-round decision loss to Charles Oliveira in March. McGregor, 37, has not fought since 2021 and previously withdrew from a scheduled bout against Michael Chandler in 2024 due to a broken toe.

McGregor’s path back to the octagon has been complicated by disciplinary and legal issues. He accepted an 18-month ban for violating anti-doping policies after missing three tests within a 12-month period in 2024. The ban, backdated to September 2024, concluded in March. He has been tested 11 times by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) this year, a figure cited as higher than any other fighter on the UFC roster.

In November 2024, a court ordered McGregor to pay £206,000 in damages to Nikita Hand regarding a 2018 incident in Dublin. Hand has since announced intentions to sue for malicious abuse of court processes. McGregor’s career also includes a 2018 conviction for punching a man in a Dublin pub and an arrest in New York for throwing a metal dolly at a bus.

The UFC 329 card at the T-Mobile Arena will also feature Paddy Pimblett fighting Benoit Saint-Denis, Lone'er Kavanagh facing Brandon Royval, and Luke Riley taking on Kai Kamaka. McGregor’s last victory was against Donald Cerrone, two years after his defeat by Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.

McGregor rose to prominence after becoming the UFC’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion in 2015 and 2016. His career highlights include a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo for the undisputed belt in 2015 and a lucrative boxing bout against Floyd Mayweather in 2017.