Dana White insists McGregor-Holloway announcement timing was not a shot at MVP

Dana White has dismissed suggestions that the UFC deliberately announced the Conor McGregor-Max Holloway rematch to undercut Most Valuable Promotions’ first-ever MMA event, insisting the booking was made public the instant it was confirmed.

The rematch was revealed on July 16 at almost the exact moment Francis Ngannou was walking to the cage to face Philipe Lins at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles — the centrepiece of MVP’s debut card. The announcement dropped during UFC Fight Night 276, a relatively low-profile card, which intensified speculation that the timing was calculated to divert attention from the rival promotion.

White flatly denied the theory in comments to Fred Talks Fighting. “Not a coincidence,” he said. “I had a f—king fight here that night. Anybody who thinks that I gave a s—t what was going on anywhere else is out of their f—ing minds. We announced it as soon as we got it done, and we were in the middle of our event. (I don’t) give a f—k what those guys are doing. You kidding me?”

The McGregor-Holloway matchup had been circulating as a rumour for some time before the confirmation, and many within the sport had expected it to be unveiled during the UFC 328 broadcast the previous week. The promotion routinely uses major numbered events as platforms for high-profile announcements, making the Fight Night 276 reveal all the more unexpected.

UFC 329 is scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. For McGregor, it will mark his first appearance inside the Octagon since July 2021, ending a near four-year absence from competition. The original meeting between McGregor and Holloway took place in 2013, with Holloway winning by unanimous decision at UFC 164.