UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2 results, analysis

UFC 329 took place Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In the main event, Conor McGregor lost his comeback fight against Max Holloway after suffering an injury early in the first round. theScore's Nick Baldwin provided live results and analysis throughout the card.

📌 Jump to: Pimblett's submission | Bautista's UD | Royval's submission | Green's TKO | Prelims | Steveson's debut | Early prelims

McGregor injured again 🚨

Conor McGregor suffered another significant injury in his long-awaited return to the Octagon giving Max Holloway a TKO victory in the main event. McGregor was competing for the first time since he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier almost five years ago to the day. This time, it was his right knee that gave out.

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McGregor makes 1st entrance in 5 years

Pimblett chokes BSD unconscious

Paddy "The Baddy" Pimblett needed only 52 seconds to defeat Benoit Saint Denis, as he choked the Frenchman unconscious with a D'Arce choke. Pimblett is now 8-1 in the UFC, with the lone blip coming against Justin Gaethje, who's now the lightweight champion.

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Bautista upsets Sandhagen

Bantamweight contender Mario Bautista avenged a previous loss to Cory Sandhagen with a unanimous decision victory in the rematch.

All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in Bautista's favor.

It was a tactical fight for the most part, but Bautista secured the biggest win of his career by rocking Sandhagen early in the third round and then controlling him on the ground.

Bautista is riding a two-fight winning streak and is 10-1 in his last 11 fights. His lone loss during that stretch came against former title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov.

Sandhagen has been a mainstay in the 135-pound division's top five for several years, but he'll likely find himself on the outside looking in after this setback. He's lost two in a row and is 1-3 in his past four outings.

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Royval submits Kavanagh in barn burner

Brandon Royval defeated Lone'er Kavanagh in the front-runner for Fight of the Night.

Royval, the No. 4-ranked flyweight contender, submitted Kavanagh with a rear-naked choke at the 3:40 mark of the third round, capping a wild, back-and-forth fight.

Royval had a good start to the fight, using his size to outmuscle Kavanagh on the ground.

Kavanagh turned the tide in the second round with a knockdown. He dropped Royval with a right hand and then jumped on him and landed vicious ground-and-pound. But Royval held on and was actually the aggressor to finish the round.

Royval and Kavanagh rocked each other in a wild sequence to kick off the third round, but then Royval took over with his grappling. He took Kavanagh down and got into full mount. He attempted an arm-triangle choke before eventually sinking in the rear-naked choke and forcing the tap from his opponent.

Royval rebounded from a two-fight skid, which included losses to current champion Joshua Van and Manel Kape. The 33-year-old earned his first win since beating Tatsuro Taira in October 2024.

Kavanagh, ranked No. 6 in the division, was coming off a career win over former champ Brandon Moreno in February. The 27-year-old Englishman fell to 3-2 in the UFC.

Green pulls off miraculous comeback

King Green was losing until he wasn't.

The veteran lightweight was nearly finished several times in the opening round against Terrance McKinney, but he rallied to stop McKinney with a buzzer-beater TKO. The finish came at the 4:59 mark of the round.

McKinney bloodied Green early in the fight with big punches against the fence. Midway through the round, McKinney landed a takedown and went to work on the ground. He got into full mount and pummeled Green with strikes. He also attempted to finish Green with a rear-naked choke.

After surviving the ferocious onslaught, Green turned the tide in the final 30 seconds by hurting McKinney with a right hand to the body. Green jumped on his opponent and teed off with punches on the ground until the referee stepped in.

Green extended his winning streak to four with the epic victory over McKinney. He's already won three fights in 2026, knocking out Daniel Zellhuber in February and submitting Jeremy Stephens in May before this latest triumph.

McKinney was coming off a 24-second knockout of Kyle Nelson in March. He's alternated wins and losses in his last four Octagon appearances.

Whittaker wins light heavyweight debut

Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker scored a TKO finish against Nikita Krylov in his light heavyweight debut. The fight ended at the 1:01 mark of the third round.

Whittaker battered Krylov with punches throughout the fight and closed the show with a huge overhand right. Krylov turned away after eating the punch and seemed to indicate that he hurt his jaw. The referee immediately called off the fight.

Whittaker moved up to 205 pounds after suffering back-to-back losses to Khamzat Chimaev and Reinier de Ridder. He said in his postfight interview that he plans to stay in the division moving forward.

The 35-year-old Australian earned his first win since a knockout of Ikram Aliskerov in June 2024.

Krylov entered the fight coming off a win over Modestas Bukauskas. The 34-year-old Ukrainian is 1-3 in his last four bouts.

Steveson wins UFC debut by KO 🚨

Former Olympic champion wrestler Gable Steveson won his long-awaited UFC debut with a first-round knockout of Elisha Ellison. The prized American prospect, who tried his hand at professional wrestling and professional football before committing to a career in mixed martial arts, found success with power punches, knees, and teep kicks throughout the contest.

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Yanez smokes Garbrandt

Adrian Yanez picked up the biggest win of his career, finishing former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt via TKO at the 2:47 mark of the first round.

Yanez tagged Garbrandt with two right hands and then knocked him down with a two-punch combination.

Garbrandt got off to a fast start, landing a flurry of punches to open the fight, but his chin couldn't endure the big shots from Yanez.

Yanez is now riding a two-fight unbeaten streak after fighting Ricky Simon to a majority draw in March.

Garbrandt suffered the fifth knockout loss of his career. The 35-year-old is 1-3 in his last four fights.

Riley runs through Kamaka

Featherweight prospect Luke Riley stayed undefeated with a first-round TKO of Kai Kamaka III. The finish came at the 3:03 mark of the round.

Riley dropped Kamaka with a right hand and then followed up with a barrage of punches against the fence.

Riley has won three straight since his UFC debut last November. The 27-year-old Englishman lifted his professional record to 14-0 with 10 knockouts.

Kamaka's two-fight winning streak came to an end. The 31-year-old returned to the UFC for a second stint in April and picked up a split-decision victory.

Wang cruises past Cortez

Wang Cong delivered a dominant performance against Tracy Cortez, earning a unanimous decision victory in a women's flyweight bout. All three judges scored the fight 29-27 in Wang's favor.

Wang pummeled Cortez in the striking department, outlanding her opponent in all three rounds. She was deducted a point in the second round due to an illegal knee.

After the victory, Wang called out women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. She beat Shevchenko in a kickboxing match in 2015.

Wang is riding a four-fight winning streak and is 5-1 in her last six Octagon appearances. Cortez has lost two in a row and is 1-3 in her last four outings.

Pinas gets the walk-off KO

Damian Pinas is a middleweight to watch.

The 24-year-old Suriname native scored a ferocious knockout win over Cesar Almeida, flooring him with a right hand at the 4:44 mark of the first round.

Pinas is now 2-0 in the UFC after an appearance on Dana White's Contender Series last year. He also scored a first-round knockout win in his Octagon debut in February.

Almeida suffered the first stoppage loss of his career. The 38-year-old Brazilian is riding a two-fight skid after falling to 3-3 in the promotion.

Basharat ekes out win vs. Garza

No. 15-ranked bantamweight Farid Basharat took home a hard-fought win over newcomer John Garza II, earning a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Basharat's five takedowns were the difference-maker, as he controlled Garza on the ground for several minutes. However, Garza's stock will go up in defeat. The heavy underdog hung in there with his more experienced opponent from start to finish. Garza punished Basharat with body shots and was the fighter coming forward in the third round.

Basharat improved to 7-0 in the Octagon and 16-0 as a professional. The 28-year-old Afghan said in his postfight interview that this was the final bout on his contract and that he wants to re-sign with the promotion.

Garza, a 23-year-old from Texas, was called up on short notice for his UFC debut. He fell to 6-2 as a pro.

Gandra nabs 75-second TKO

Ryan Gandra wasted no time in his second UFC appearance, finishing Zach Reese with strikes 75 seconds into their middleweight bout.

Gandra dropped Reese with a looping left hook and then landed a few punches on the ground to finish the job.

The 31-year-old Brazilian also scored a first-round finish in his Octagon debut, knocking out Jose Medina in 41 seconds in February. He's now 10-1 as a professional with eight stoppages.

Reese, 32, has lost two in a row after dropping a split decision to Michel Pereira in February.

Costa taps out Durden in 1st fight of night

Flyweight Alessandro Costa made easy work of Cody Durden in the opening fight of UFC 329. He submitted Durden with a rear-naked choke at the 2:19 mark of the second round.

After a competitive first round, Costa took Durden to the ground and used his impressive Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to lock in the submission.

The 30-year-old earned his third win of 2026, after knocking out Stewart Nicoll and Matt Schnell in April and June, respectively. Costa improved to 5-3 in the Octagon overall.

Durden also stepped into the cage for the third time this year, falling to 1-2. The 35-year-old was coming off a win over Jafel Filho in April but is now a mere 1-5 in his last six outings.

Pre-fight notes

McGregor, a former two-division champion and the biggest star in UFC history, is returning from the longest layoff of his career. He hasn't stepped into the Octagon since breaking his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. The 37-year-old Irishman was supposed to make his comeback against Michael Chandler in June 2024, but he withdrew from the fight after breaking his toe in training, delaying his return even further.

Once a pound-for-pound great, McGregor fell on hard times in the later stages of his career. He's riding a two-fight skid and is 1-3 in his last four outings dating back to 2018. He hasn't gotten his hand raised since he knocked out Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020.

Holloway, a former featherweight champion, is also looking to get back on track. He dropped the BMF title in a lopsided loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 in March. However, the 34-year-old Hawaiian has an opportunity to jump right back into the title mix thanks to his win over current lightweight champion Justin Gaethje two years ago.

This will be the second time McGregor and Holloway meet in the Octagon. McGregor earned a unanimous decision victory over Holloway in his second UFC bout in 2013.

Previewing McGregor-Holloway 2

• 5 biggest questions ahead of McGregor's return at UFC 329
• Timeline: How we got to McGregor's UFC return
• UFC 329 predictions: Does McGregor stand a chance in comeback fight?

Here's a look at the full UFC 329 fight card:

Main card (Paramount+ at 9 p.m. ET)

• Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway
• Benoit Saint Denis vs. Paddy Pimblett
• Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista
• Brandon Royval vs. Lone'er Kavanagh
• King Green vs. Terrance McKinney

Preliminary card (Paramount+ at 7 p.m. ET)

• Nikita Krylov vs. Robert Whittaker
• Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Adrian Yanez
• Luke Riley vs. Kai Kamaka III

Early preliminary card (Paramount+ at 5 p.m. ET)

• Tracy Cortez vs. Wang Cong
• Damian Pinas vs. Cesar Almeida
• Farid Basharat vs. John Garza
• Ryan Gandra vs. Zachary Reese
• Alessandro Costa vs. Cody Durden

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