UFC 329 went down last night (Sat., July 11, 2026) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, which featured the long-awaited return of Conor McGregor after five years away from action. Unfortunately, his comeback ended in rather anticlimactic fashion after he suffered a knee injury just seconds into the fight, which resulted in a first-round technical knockout (TKO) win for Max Holloway (see it again here). The co-main event didn’t last long, either, after Paddy Pimblett slept Benoit Saint Denis
with a suffocating d’arce choke in less than a minute (highlights here).
Biggest Winner: Paddy Pimblett
Pimblett had himself a night after securing one of the biggest (and fastest) wins of his career by submitting Saint Denis in 52 seconds (see it again here). The amazing submission win was a great bounce back for “The Baddy” after losing to Justin Gaethje in his previous fight. Currently ranked No. 6, Pimblett will be in the Top 5 come next week, which will set him up for a bigger fight moving forward. He also locked down an extra $100,000 for his finish, which undoubtedly sent him home happier. He talks the talk and he definitely walked the walk last night, putting him on the fast track once again for superstardom.
Runner (s) Up: King Green and Brandon Royval
Green has quietly been on a great run, adding to it last night by securing another win after knocking out Terrance McKinney with one second remaining in the very first round (highlights). He has now won four straight, his first such streak in 12 years. With the win, Green could very well crack the Top 15 once the new rankings are released. He also locked down an extra $100,000 in post-fight bonus cash. As for Royval, he and Lone’er Kavanagh put on a show after a 15-minute war that saw both men have success. It was a tight contest up until Royval caught Kavanagh in the third round with an air-tight submission choke (relive it here). Both men locked down $100,000 for “Fight of the Night,” but it’s “Raw Dawg” who gets to fly home with a win.
Biggest Losers: Conor McGregor
It goes without saying that McGregor had the worst night of anyone on the card. After years on the sidelines and then months of hyping up his comeback, it was all for naught after he blew his knee out literally seconds into the fight and his first offensive attack. Just like that, the legend of McGregor is probably done for good, despite Max Holloway’s confusing call for a trilogy match. That is likely not going to happen and the MMA world will not be surprised if “Notorious” hangs his gloves up for good. If this truly is the end for McGregor, it’s a horrible way to go out for himself and his fans and for the company. What will make this loss and injury worse are going to be the conspiracy theories of coming in with a pre-existing injury, which won’t be a good look.
For more UFC 329 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
