Makhachev backs Holloway to beat McGregor in UFC 329 return bout

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is siding with the oddsmakers ahead of UFC 329, predicting Max Holloway will defeat Conor McGregor when the Irishman ends a four-year absence on July 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“It’s good. Big name for our sport,” Makhachev said of McGregor’s comeback. “But he have tough opponent, Max Holloway, against Conor. I think Max can beat him.”

McGregor enters the rematch as a significant underdog at +300, with Holloway installed as the -450 favourite. The two fighters met once before — in 2013, McGregor’s second UFC outing — with McGregor winning via unanimous decision. Much has changed since then for both men.

McGregor (22-6) has not competed since July 2021, when he broke his leg in a trilogy defeat to Dustin Poirier. Despite repeatedly teasing a comeback over the intervening years, various obstacles prevented him from returning to the octagon until now.

Holloway (27-9), meanwhile, has remained one of the sport’s most active elite fighters. His recent record tells a mixed story: a win over Poirier sits between defeats to Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira in his last three outings, leaving him eager to re-establish himself at the top of the lightweight and welterweight picture.

For Makhachev, the broader significance of McGregor’s return is not lost. The Dagestani champion acknowledged that a fighter of McGregor’s global profile is a boost for the sport regardless of outcome — but stopped well short of giving the Irishman a puncher’s chance against a battle-hardened Holloway.