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Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway 2 Tips & Betting Preview - McGregor’s return to end in defeat at UFC 329

Leigh Copson

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Last updated: Fri 10 Jul 2026 15:57

Leigh Copson 10 Jul 2026

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Holloway has won 6 of his last 9 fights against top opposition.
McGregor is winless in the UFC since 2020 and has lost 3 of his last 4.
Prediction: Holloway expected to win, likely by KO/TKO due to activity and form.

Max Holloway (Getty Images)

Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway 2 Preview
Head-To-Head
Conor McGregor Winless In UFC Since 2020
Max Holloway Seeking 7th Win In Last 10 Fights

Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway 2 Preview

Holloway is past his prime at this point, but he has spent the last few years still fighting - and beating - some of the very best fighters in the lighter weight classes. He can beat up and finish McGregor, who has been missing for five years.

Max Holloway has won 6 of his last 9 fights
Conor McGregor has lost 3 of his last 4 fights in the UFC
Conor McGregor has not fought in just over 5 years
Conor McGregor has won just 1 fight since November 2016

Head-To-Head

Conor McGregor won by unanimous decision when the two men fought in August 2013

Conor McGregor Winless In UFC Since 2020

Conor McGregor is a former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion with a professional record of 22-6 (19 KOs, 1 Sub).

McGregor enjoyed a meteoric rise after signing with the UFC in 2013, reeling off five straight wins to surge in to a featherweight title contention – a run that included a points success against Max Holloway.

He claimed the interim title in July 2015 when he knocked out Chad Mendes in the second round, and then completed his rise to the summit that December as he took just 13 seconds to end Jose Aldo’s historic reign.

‘The Notorious’ was then scheduled to challenge for the lightweight title, but an injury to Rafael dos Anjos forced the fight to be shelved, and instead he fought late stand-in Nate Diaz at welterweight.

Diaz sensationally forced McGregor to tap out in the second round of that fight, but the Irishman gained a measure of revenge that summer as he out-pointed the Stockton native over five rounds.

The now 37-year-old then made history as he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two different weight classes at the same time – knocking out Eddie Alvarez in the second round to become lightweight champion.

McGregor switched his attention to boxing after that, losing a blockbuster crossover fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr, before finally returning to the Octagon in October 2018 to take on heated rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.

He was dominated and forced to tap out in the fourth round of that bout, and would not step foot in the Octagon again until January 202 when he knocked out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds.

McGregor has not won since, with his last two outings being the TKO defeats to Dustin Poirier in January and July of 2021.

Max Holloway Seeking 7th Win In Last 10 Fights

Max Holloway is a former UFC featherweight champion with a professional record of 27-9 (12 KOs, 2 Subs).

Holloway has been competing in the UFC since early 2012 and has fought a who’s who of fighters in the lighter weight classes.

His best run came between January 2014 and December 2018, when he rebounded from a unanimous decision defeat to Conor McGregor with a run of 13 consecutive wins that propelled him to the top of the featherweight division.

‘Blessed’ became a UFC champion for the first time in his career in December 2016 when he knocked out Anthony Pettis in the third round to claim the featherweight crown.

Holloway then made back-to-back successful defences against the legendary Jose Aldo, stopping him with strikes in the third round on both occasions.

The 34-year-old Hawaiian then brutalised Brian Ortega over four rounds, before moving up to lightweight for an interim lightweight title with Dustin Poirier that ended in a unanimous decision defeat.

He returned to the featherweight division after loss and retained the title with a points success against Frankie Edgar, only to then see his reign end in December 2019 when he dropped a unanimous decision to Alexander Volkanovski.

Holloway then lost the rematch by split decision, but rebounded over his next two fights with points wins against Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez to earn another title shot.

He again came up short against Volkanovski, losing by decision, but answered that setback by following up a points win over Arnold Allen with a third-round knockout of ‘The Korean Zombie’.

‘Blessed’ then claimed the symbolic ‘BMF’ title with a last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje, but failed to add the featherweight title later that year as he was knocked out in the third round by Ilia Topuria.

Holloway responded with a points win against Dustin Poirier, before losing the ‘BMF’ crown with a points defeat to Charles Oliveira in March of this year.

Verdict

Conor McGregor v Max Holloway 2

Conor McGregor won the last meeting between the pair, but that was a long, long time ago.

Max Holloway has been much more active and has been beating top opposition over the past few years, while McGregor has almost exclusively been in the headlines for non-sporting matters.

Ring rust, years of party and age could catch up with McGregor here – we fully expect Holloway to take this one emphatically.