{"id":1880,"date":"2026-05-17T02:46:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=1880"},"modified":"2026-05-17T02:46:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:46:33","slug":"conor-mcgregor-to-fight-max-holloway-as-irishman-ends-five-year-absence-from-ufc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=1880","title":{"rendered":"Conor McGregor to fight Max Holloway as Irishman ends five-year absence from UFC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-1ihz57b-0\" data-component=\"Newsletter\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"independent\">\n<div data-theme-wrapper=\"independent\" style=\"display:contents\">\n<aside class=\"sc-y4bm30-0 jwWhkK newsletter-component sc-1ge0fwe-0\" data-newsletter-key=\"receiveInsideSportNews\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-1 inRDZn\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-3\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-4 hfveGa\">\n<p><h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-6 fvoxRM cLEJmn\">Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-8 fvoxRM iTZFOX\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-7 fvoxRM iGYpOF\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 hKcUSR sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-1ix0cah-0 PYnPb sc-y4bm30-10 fUEDPX\"><use href=\"#600f53465147d717\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk sc-y4bm30-9 iQYNfz\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/conor-mcgregor\">Conor McGregor<\/a>\u2019s return to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/ufc\">UFC<\/a> is finally official, as the former champion prepares to fight Max Holloway at UFC 329.<\/p>\n<p>On 11 July, McGregor will face Holloway in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/ufc\/ufc-schedule-2026-events-fights-april-b2947841.html\" title=\"UFC schedule: Every fight announced for 2026\">the main event at Las Vegas\u2019s T-Mobile Arena<\/a>, three days before turning 38 \u2013 and 13 years after he first fought the Hawaiian.<\/p>\n<p>The contest is McGregor\u2019s first in five years, and it comes two years after a planned comeback against Michael Chandler was thwarted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/ufc\/conor-mcgregor-michael-chandler-islam-makhachev-b2567079.html\" title=\"Conor McGregor labelled \u2018a chicken\u2019 by UFC champion after revealing broken toe\">when he broke his toe on two weeks\u2019 notice<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>That injury was not as severe as the one that occurred in his last bout, though; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/ufc\/conor-mcgregor-injury-poirier-who-won-b1881984.html\" title=\"Conor McGregor loses fight against Dustin Poirier after breaking leg in UFC 264 main event as Trump watches on\">McGregor broke his leg in a 2021 defeat by Dustin Poirier<\/a> and has not fought since.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-awdjp1-2 cbpRGD sc-awdjp1-3 image align-center\">\n<figure class=\"sc-1cbdeug-0 cXcwgU\">\n<div class=\"sc-awdjp1-0 eRRhsC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2024\/04\/25\/09\/newFile-9.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2024\/04\/25\/09\/newFile-9.jpg?quality=75&amp;width=320&amp;auto=webp 320w, https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2024\/04\/25\/09\/newFile-9.jpg?quality=75&amp;width=640&amp;auto=webp 640w\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Conor McGregor, moments before suffering a broken leg in 2021\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sc-1cbdeug-1 sc-1cbdeug-3 YlsWU hgzWpY\">Conor McGregor, moments before suffering a broken leg in 2021<span class=\"sc-1cbdeug-7 gjqsiM\"> <!-- -->(<!-- -->Getty Images<!-- -->)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>But that will change on 11 July, as the Irishman (22-6) takes on Holloway (27-9) at welterweight. A lightweight co-main event will pit<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/ufc\/paddy-pimblett-next-fight-ufc-329-benoit-saint-denis-b2968945.html\" title=\"Paddy Pimblett\u2019s UFC comeback reportedly targeted for possible Conor McGregor event\"> Liverpool\u2019s Paddy \u201cThe Baddy\u201d Pimblett against France\u2019s Benoit Saint-Denis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaiian Holloway, 34, is a former featherweight champion, who also held the \u201cBaddest Motherf*****\u201d title until he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/ufc\/ufc-326-results-holloway-oliveira-highlights-score-b2933990.html\" title=\"Charles Oliveira crushes Max Holloway to be crowned \u2018BMF\u2019 champion at UFC 326\">dominated by Charles Oliveira in March<\/a>. Despite the nature of that loss at lightweight, Holloway is seen as a UFC great, and he holds wins over numerous stars and champions \u2013 including Oliveira earlier in their careers, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo, the latter of whom he knocked out twice.<\/p>\n<p>However, Holloway was outpointed by McGregor back in 2013, early in both of their UFC tenures.<\/p>\n<p>McGregor himself is a former dual-weight UFC champion, the first in the promotion\u2019s history. During his prime, he knocked out Aldo in 13 seconds, stopped Eddie Alvarez in the UFC\u2019s Madison Square Garden debut, and traded wins with Nate Diaz.<\/p>\n<p>He then took a break from mixed martial arts (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/mma\">MMA<\/a>) and fought boxer Floyd Mayweather in the American\u2019s discipline, losing via stoppage in 2017. A UFC return in 2018 brought a submission loss to bitter rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, and McGregor has fought just three times since.<\/p>\n<p>He stopped Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in 2020, before fighting Poirier twice in 2021 \u2013 suffering his first KO loss in MMA in the first of those bouts, and breaking his leg in the second.<\/p>\n<p>McGregor has battled numerous legal issues in recent years, including in 2024, when a civil-court jury found him liable for sexual assault in Dublin in 2018. McGregor continues to deny all allegations against him relating to that case.<\/p>\n<p>McGregor\u2019s return will take place one month after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/ufc\/ufc-white-house-fight-card-fan-reaction-b2934835.html\" title=\"Is the UFC\u2019s White House card good enough? Grading every fight\">the UFC hosts an unprecedented fight card at the White House<\/a>. That event will take place on 14 June, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/ufc\/ufc-josh-hokit-white-house-card-trump-derrick-lewis-b2956059.html\" title=\"UFC adds Josh Hokit to White House card at Donald Trump\u2019s request as president watches instant classic\">the 80th birthday of US president Donald Trump<\/a>, to celebrate 250 years of the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-1024x683.jpg",640,427,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9.jpg",1200,800,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/newFile-9-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?cat=6\" rel=\"category\">Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}