UFC 329 RESULTS: MAX HOLLOWAY TKOs CONOR McGREGOR IN ROUND 1 AS COMEBACK ENDS ON A KNEE INJURY, PIMBLETT & GREEN EARN PERFORMANCE BONUSES
By Real Combat Media MMA Editorial Staff
Las Vegas, NV (July 11th, 2026)– Five years of waiting ended in sixty-nine seconds. Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon at UFC 329 came to an abrupt and painful close Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, as Max Holloway stopped “The Notorious” by first-round TKO after McGregor appeared to badly injure his right knee on a jumping kick attempt just seconds into the fight. It’s a gut-punch of an ending to what was billed as one of the biggest comeback stories in company history, and it leaves McGregor’s future in the cage and out of it, which is now murkier than ever.
The rest of the card didn’t waste any time picking up the slack. Seven of the first nine bouts ended inside the distance, Paddy Pimblett and Bobby “King” Green both walked away with Performance of the Night bonuses, and Brandon Royval and Lone’er Kavanagh turned in a three-round war that took home Fight of the Night. Real Combat Media MMA has you covered below with full results, the main event breakdown, and video from a stacked night at T-Mobile Arena.
UFC 329 Results
Main Card
Welterweight: Max Holloway def. Conor McGregor by TKO (knee injury), Round 1, 1:09
Lightweight: Paddy Pimblett def. Benoît Saint Denis by technical submission (D’Arce choke), Round 1, 0:52
Bantamweight: Mario Bautista def. Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Flyweight: Brandon Royval def. Lone’er Kavanagh by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 3:40
Lightweight: Bobby “King” Green def. Terrance McKinney by TKO (punches), Round 1, 4:59
Prelims
Light Heavyweight: Robert Whittaker def. Nikita Krylov by TKO (punches), Round 3, 1:01
Heavyweight: Gable Steveson def. Elisha Ellison by KO (punches), Round 1, 2:31
Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez def. Cody Garbrandt by TKO (punches), Round 1, 2:47
Featherweight: Luke Riley def. Kai Kamaka III by TKO (punches), Round 1, 3:03
Early Prelims
Women’s Flyweight: Wang Cong def. Tracy Cortez by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Middleweight: Damian Pinas def. Cesar Almeida by KO (straight right), Round 1, 4:44
Bantamweight: Farid Basharat def. John Garza by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Middleweight: Ryan Gandra def. Zachary Reese by TKO (punches), Round 1, 1:15
Flyweight: Alessandro Costa def. Cody Durden by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 2:19
Main Event: Holloway Stops McGregor Before He Ever Gets Started
I’ve been covering this sport for twenty years, and I still wasn’t ready for how fast this one went sideways. McGregor came out throwing a jumping kick in the opening exchange, and you could see his right knee buckle on landing. He tried to fight through it, slipping to the canvas twice while Holloway checked in with referee Mike Beltran about stepping in. McGregor got back to his feet, ate one more kick, took an unsteady step back, and Beltran waved it off at 1:09 of round one.
Give Holloway credit — he didn’t get to finish this the way he wanted after dropping the first meeting back in 2013, but a win is a win, and “Blessed” moves to 170 pounds with a statement victory even if the ending left a bad taste for everybody in the building. This wasn’t the fight anybody paid for, and I expect we’ll be hearing more from McGregor’s camp about the extent of that knee injury in the coming days. Whether this was the final chapter of his UFC career is a question nobody in Vegas could answer Saturday night.
Co-Main and Main Card Breakdown
Paddy Pimblett needed all of 52 seconds to put Benoît Saint Denis to sleep in the co-main event. BSD shot for an early takedown, Pimblett latched onto a guillotine on the way down, transitioned to a D’Arce choke, and rolled through for the finish. That’s now back-to-back statement wins for “The Baddy,” and a Performance of the Night bonus to go with it — he shouldn’t need more than one more win to get back in the title picture at 155.
Mario Bautista got a measure of revenge on Cory Sandhagen, taking a clean sweep of the scorecards (29-28 x3) in a razor-close rematch of their earlier meeting. Sandhagen had the better of the striking in stretches, but a Suloev stretch attempt from Bautista appeared to affect Sandhagen’s wheel for the rest of the fight, and Bautista’s late pressure in round three was enough to get his hand raised.
Brandon Royval and Lone’er Kavanagh put on the best fight of the night, full stop. Fifteen minutes of full-go action, a knockdown for Kavanagh in round two, and a Royval rear-naked choke at 3:40 of round three to seal it. Both guys have a claim to a step up in competition after that one — it’s exactly the kind of fight that makes the flyweight division must-watch television every time out.
And Bobby “King” Green stole Performance of the Night honors with as unlikely a finish as you’ll see. Terrance McKinney had him hurt and controlling the top position for most of round one, but Green survived, got back to his feet with thirty seconds left on the clock, and pounded out the stoppage with one second to spare. That’s four straight wins now for the 39-year-old veteran, three of them by finish.
Notable Undercard Performances
Robert Whittaker’s move up to light heavyweight got off to a strong start. “The Reaper” used his speed and boxing to control the distance against Nikita Krylov before finishing with punches at 1:01 of round three. Gable Steveson made his long-awaited UFC debut count as well, blasting through Elisha Ellison for a first-round TKO at heavyweight, and Adrian Yanez put a beating on former champion Cody Garbrandt before Herb Dean’s stoppage ended things in round one.
Down on the earlier portion of the card, Damian Pinas continued his run of statement finishes with a counter right hand that put Cesar Almeida on the canvas, and Alessandro Costa opened the show with a slick second-round rear-naked choke over Cody Durden. Farid Basharat survived a scare against short-notice replacement John Garza to stay unbeaten inside the Octagon, and Wang Cong out-struck and out-wrestled Tracy Cortez for a clean decision at women’s flyweight.
UFC 329 Bonuses
Performance of the Night: King Green, Paddy Pimblett
Fight of the Night: Brandon Royval vs. Lone’er Kavanagh ($100,000 each)
Watch UFC 329 Post-Fight Coverage
UFC 329: Post-Fight Press Conference
Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2 Highlights | UFC 329
UFC Fighter Reacts to Holloway Beating McGregor
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