Danis predicts McGregor knocks out Holloway inside three rounds at UFC 329

Dillon Danis is backing Conor McGregor to silence the doubters at UFC 329, predicting the returning Irishman will knock out Max Holloway inside three rounds when the two meet in the welterweight main event on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

McGregor (22-6) enters the fight as a +300 underdog against Holloway (27-9), with most analysts expecting the Hawaiian to dominate a man returning from five years out of competition. Danis, however, insists that narrative is built on a misreading of McGregor’s current form.

“He’s always been a dedicated guy… He is living in the gym,” Danis told MMA Fighting. “He is bringing in tough training partners. He is beyond focused right now… It’s a different kind of dedication that he has right now. And I think that he’s going to clean Max. At that weight, the way his body is looking, the way he is training, the way that he is putting in the hours… I don’t believe in ring rust. I believe ring rust is a mindset. And if anybody is gonna beat a mindset, it’s Conor.”

Danis went further, predicting the fight will not reach the third round and that McGregor will target Holloway’s chin. He also outlined a path to a future lightweight title shot, suggesting a win over Holloway would set up a blockbuster clash with reigning champion Islam Makhachev.

“I think he’s gonna knock out Max and then it’s gonna be him and Islam,” Danis said. “I don’t think it makes it past three rounds, maybe two. I think [Conor] cleans his jaw.”

Danis was among McGregor’s primary training partners ahead of the Irishman’s 2018 bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, a night that ended in a post-fight brawl in which Danis was centrally involved. After a lengthy absence from competition, Danis has recently returned to wrestling, and is scheduled to headline RAF 10 against Khamzat Chimaev in St. Louis.

Whether his confidence in McGregor proves well-founded or not, the UFC 329 main event represents one of the most anticipated returns in recent MMA history — and one of the sport’s most polarising figures is already generating the kind of pre-fight noise that has always followed him.