July 11 is the night Conor McGregor comes home.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion, who also wore gold at 145 pounds, is the biggest star in mixed martial arts (MMA) and holds just about every pay-per-view (PPV) record in company history, back when the promotion forced you to shell out $80 to watch a numbered event.
These days it costs you a relatively inexpensive subscription to Paramount+.
There’s no doubt McGregor is a megastar. He’s the also the biggest piece of
crap on the active roster, which is saying a lot when you consider the stiff competition from unflushed turds like Sedriques Dumas and Jon Jones. Remember the old days when the Code of Conduct actually meant something?
They should give Nate Diaz a $20,000 refund.
McGregor, 37, was found liable for sexual assault back in late 2024 and that’s probably the case you’ll hear about most (unless you write for NY Times) as detractors flood the pre-fight coverage for UFC 329. “Notorious” rematches Max Holloway on Sat. night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the same venue that saw him destroy Donald Cerrone in early 2020.
He tried to appeal the civil ruling in his sexual assault case and was summarily denied, despite his claims of innocence and a half-baked image rehabilitation campaign.
From judge Alex Owens:
“Mr. McGregor, by winks and nudges, wants to get into the court of public opinion [and] selectively use bits and pieces of the case that suit himself for the purpose of that. That’s what it’s all about. The facts are clear. Nikita Hand sued Conor McGregor, a jury found McGregor raped Nikita Hand. That has been conclusively determined.”
McGregor is also the author of several racist remarks, openly admits to snorting cocaine, was arrested for assaulting a bar patron (who exhibited extremely good taste), went nuts and stole a phone, got suspended for a drug testing violation, and sent a UFC fighter to the hospital after destroying a bus,
One of his victims said it best: “He’s a bully with money.”
Does anyone even care at this point? It’s hard to get up in arms over McGregor’s misdeeds considering the current combat sports culture. Violence against women is tolerated in UFC, despite this ridiculous claim. In addition, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland randomly assaults fans, former flyweight titleholder Julianna Pena beats up bar patrons, fan favorite Dustin Poirier drops drunken N-bombs, and UFC 329’s King Green failed a pre-fight drug test.
Feels like Conor is right where he belongs.
Whether or not he belongs in the UFC title picture all depends on his performance against Max Holloway atop the UFC 329 fight card this weekend in “Sin City.” It would probably make more sense to see this fight at lightweight but McGregor appears to be done with the 155-pound weight class, a decision that is likely to hurt him.
Having to maintain a lightweight physique requires more conditioning in camp and will invariably return better results in the latter half of the contest. Remember, there is no substitute for an actual fight and McGregor hasn’t competed in five years. His gas tank was already questionable in his prime and now you add a long layoff and extra muscle to the equation — against a fighter who holds UFC records for significant strikes landed and total strikes landed.
Second place in both categories is over 1,000 strikes away.
McGregor (22-6) has knockout power, no doubt about it, but he also got knocked out by trying to stand with Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. It was a clean finish with no fouls and no controversy, he just went toe-to-toe with another boxer and lost. If you strip away the hype and just look at the metrics, what you’re left with is a fighter who only holds one victory over the last 10 years, and that came over a washed-up Donald Cerrone who “didn’t want to be there.”
There’s also the matter of a broken leg that historically, changes career trajectories for the worse.
Holloway (27-9) has suffered his own decline, though not as dramatic. His once legendary chin finally cracked against the might of Ilia Topuria and his defensive wrestling proved to be a liability — much like it did in his first McGregor fight — against Charles Oliveira. That said, Holloway doesn’t really need to be his prime self on Saturday night, he just has to exploit the many disadvantages facing McGregor.
High volume, forward pressure, punches in bunches — and the rest will take care of itself. Connie will be sucking wind and questioning his life choices by the second stanza.
Prediction: Holloway def. McGregor by technical knockout
Paddy Pimblett returns from a five-round ass whooping at the hands of Justin Gaethje to face red-hot French phenom Benoit Saint Denis. I know all the cool kids were down on Pimblett after the Gaethje performance but then we saw what “The Highlight” did to Ilia Topuria and well, “The Baddy” loss didn’t seem quite as catastrophic. What we did learn from Pimblett’s last appearance is that he can take an incredible amount of punishment. He’ll need that chin against a lightweight aggressor like Saint Denis, who throws everything but the kitchen sink at his opponents. The real question mark here is the grappling, as “God of War” averages roughly four takedowns per fight — which translates to 11 submissions in 17 wins.
Pimblett (23-4) is a 2nd-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) under coach Paul Rimmer at Next Generation MMA in Liverpool, England, and like Saint Denis, has double-digit submission wins. While Saint Denis (17-3, 1 NC) is a brown belt in BJJ, he’s also a black belt in judo, making this a very interesting fight in the clinch. At the same time, I think this contest turns into a barroom brawl and could very easily become “Fight of the Night.” I’m giving the edge to Pimblett because of his durability; whereas I’ve already seen Saint Denis go down in flames against the likes of Dustin Poirier and Renato Carneiro.
Prediction: Pimblett def. Saint Denis by technical knockout
Cory Sandhagen is being forced to rematch Mario Bautista because Sean O’Malley flat-out refuses to fight him. Having followed “Suga” for most of his career I can say that O’Malley isn’t afraid of “Sandman,” but I do think he finds the fight high risk, low reward — and I also believe part of him enjoys watching Sandhagen get upset over the promotion’s inability to get their fight booked. In their first encounter back in early 2019, Sandhagen (18-6) was able to submit Bautista (17-3) to kick off the ESPN+ era, part of the “Cejudo vs. Dillashaw” card in Brooklyn. That was Sandhagen’s third fight for UFC and Bautista’s first and both combatants have evolved considerably in the years that followed.
I’d argue that Sandhagen (18-6) had the tougher bantamweight schedule over the last few years, even though they share recent losses to Umar Nurmagomedov. I would have preferred to see them fight atop a “Fight Night” card at Meta Apex because this feels like a contest that needs five rounds, but nobody in UFC (or anywhere else) gives a shit about what I prefer, so here we are. Expect a tightly-contested battle that plays out mostly on the feet, with a couple of takedowns mixed in (from both sides) to make the razor-thin scorecards something to argue about on Sunday morning.
Prediction: Sandhagen def. Bautista by decision
Lone’er Kavanagh is just a couple of weeks away from his two-year anniversary with UFC, which started with a knockout win over An Tuan Ho on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in summer 2024. Kavanagh, still just 27 years old, is 3-1 in the flyweight division with a knockout loss to Charles Johnson slamming the brakes on his meteoric rise. He bounced back with a commanding performance over Brandon Moreno earlier this year but I’m not sure it was enough to get the hype train back on the tracks, considering Moreno’s struggles in recent years. What I can say with some degree of certainty is that anyone who thinks a knockout loss at this level is a sign of things to come should remember that Islam Makhachev — the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport — was knocked out by Adriano Martins in just his second UFC fight. Kavanagh (10-1) is well-rounded with outstanding skills in all facets of fighting and showed an improved gas tank in his performance against Moreno — at elevation — which makes him even more dangerous as he continues to enter his competitive prime.
Brandon Royval (17-9) is no pushover, having defeated the likes of Tatsuro Taira, Kai Kara-France, and the aforementioned Moreno. He’s currently mired in a two-fight losing streak, though it’s hard to get down on “Raw Dawg” when you consider that he was defeated by Joshua Van, the current flyweight champion, and Manel Kape, the No. 2-ranked contender. Royval is good everywhere but great nowhere, using a combination of grit and toughness to maintain constant pressure and wear down his opponents. That said, he’s unquestionably one of the most exciting fighters on the active roster, scoring five “Fight of the Night” bonuses over the last six years and could notch his sixth against Kavanagh this weekend in “Sin City.” This is another fight that would have been a fun five-rounder and I probably would have picked Royval in that scenario. Instead, I think Kavanagh follows the blueprint set by Van and takes home a competitive (but clearcut) decision.
Prediction: Kavanagh def. Royval by decision
King Green and Terrance McKinney are apparently embroiled in a personal feud that nobody cares about and I find the timing to be extremely convenient. It’s the tired, “We were bros, but you betrayed me by accepting an offer to fight me” storyline. Neither Green nor McKinney are ranked at lightweight, which is not surprising when you consider they combine for 25 losses, and it makes me sad that we are stuck with this sloppy fight over the light heavyweight debut of Robert Whittaker, or the UFC debut of Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson (who may or may not be a piece of trash).
On the surface, it appears McKinney (18-8) has all the tools to be an all-time great in the division. Unfortunately, he doesn’t really use any of said tools and just goes for the kill right out of the gate and that recurring blitzkrieg either kills or gets him killed. Green (35-17-1, 1 NC) is the more seasoned, well rounded fighter but he’s also turning 40 in just a few weeks. Both fighters are coming off first-round finishes in their previous outings and I would expect the same here. Green could probably win this fight if he made it to the second stanza, I just don’t think he’ll get there, crumbling in a wild exchange that may land McKinney his first “Performance of the Night” bonus.
Prediction: McKinney def. Green by knockout
For much more on this weekend’s UFC 329 event click here.
