Mauricio Ruffy will serve as the official backup for UFC 329’s main event between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway.
UFC 329 is less than a week away on July 11th with both McGregor and Holloway seemingly locked in and ready to fight. Ruffy, who was last seen beating the tar out of Michael Chandler on the UFC White House card last month, will weigh in regardless just in case some last second craziness results in a withdrawal on either side of the fight.
“Tomorrow Monday I will be traveling to Las Vegas,”
Ruffy wrote on Instagram. “If you need me, I’ll be ready!”
In the accompanying video clip, Ruffy revealed that the UFC contacted him while he was on vacation and asked him to stay ready in case he was needed for UFC 329.
“I took good care of myself, these guys made me train halfway through my vacation,” he said before stepping on the scale at 185.6 pounds, nearly 15 pound above the welterweight limit. “Me against Conor McGregor, I believe it would be a very good fight. I believe a fight I would make easier by the fact of rhythm and everything else, right?”
“And against Max Holloway, I believe in my knockout power. He’s a guy that doesn’t seek to play forward there all the time, but I go there to define the fights and I don’t miss my chances. It would be really cool to see this fight happen.”
It’s been five long years since McGregor has fought and there’s still a lot of speculation that “The Notorious” could pull out at the last minute rather than take the beating many expect he’ll take against Holloway. But Conor’s track record of competing no matter what was immaculate … right up until UFC 303 in June 2024 when he withdrew due to a broken pinky toe.
Let’s hope his Las Vegas rental mansion doesn’t have any particularly hard coffee table legs. If something does happen to McGregor, Holloway will end up fighting Mauricio Ruffy in a less star-studded affair … but perhaps a more competitive bout. Who knows, though. The Mac has been promising a new and improved version of himself, and he’s delivered multiple times in the past.
We’ll find out at UFC 329.
