UFC 329 went down last night (Sat., July 11, 2026) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring the long-awaited return of Conor McGregor after five years away from action; however, it lasted only a 69 seconds thanks to a horrible knee injury “Notorious” suffered just seconds into the Welterweight fight against Max Holloway (see it again here). In the co-main event, Paddy Pimblett put Benoit Saint-Denis to sleep with a choke in less than one minute (highlights here). In addition, King Green stopped Terrance McKinney with one second left in the opening round (highlights).
Winner: Max Holloway
Who He Should Face Next: Paddy Pimblett
Holloway may think he has numerous options following his “win” over McGregor, but when we really dig deep, most of his hopes won’t come true. If he stays at Welterweight, a title fight is not in his future anytime soon because he hasn’t done anything of note in the weight class and there are plenty of fighters in the Top 5 waiting for their shots. At Lightweight, he can lobby all he wants for a shot at Justin Gaethje, but “Blessed” did lose to Charles Oliveira in his last fight at 155 pounds, and Arman Tsarukyan is more than deserving of his chance at gold. The only viable option that I can think of that will catapult him toward a shot at the title is none other than Pimblett, who is on cloud nine following his first round destruction of Benoit Saint Denis. With a win, “The Baddy” will get into the Top 5 and closer to another title shot, as well. Holloway is ranked No. 4 at the moment, so the matchup is too good to pass up and the winner of this bout gets the next title shot. If this matchup is too much of a reach, then perhaps Pimblett vs. Oliveira is in order, while Holloway can wait to see how the championship picture unfolds in the coming months to see which foes makes sense for him. As far as the trilogy fight against McGregor, nobody other than “Blessed” wants to see it.
Winner: Paddy Pimblett
Who He Should Face Next: Max Holloway or Charles Oliveira
Pimblett was the biggest winner last night after walking right through Saint-Denis like a hot knife through butter, putting him to sleep with an amazing d’arce choke that has him in the running for submission of the year. Prior to his win, he mentioned potential fights against Holloway and McGregor; however, after his win he shifted his focus to the aforementioned Oliveira. I would personally prefer a fight against “Blessed,” but if the powers that be want to see “The Baddy” and “Do Bronxs” do work inside the Octagon then I’m all for it.
Bautista will soon enjoy a spot in the Top 5 after getting revenge on Cory Sandhagen, defeating him via unanimous decision. He is 10-1 over his last 11 fights inside the Octagon, and now that he’s defeated the No. 4-seeded guy in the division that title fight is inching closer. For now, the championship picture is a bit murky because Petr Yan may be running it back against Merab Dvalishvilli (or Sean O’ Malley) next. Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong will collide next month, so I wouldn’t mind seeing Bautista get the winner. If it’s Nurmagomedov, then Bautista gets a chance to avenge that loss to him in 2025. If it’s against Song, it’s a fresh matchup that could get him closer to the Promise Land.
Winner: Brandon Royval
Who He Should Face Next: Asu Almabayev
Royval managed to snap his two-fight skid with an impressive performance and finish over Lone’er Kavanagh, netting both men a cool $100,000 in bonus cash. Afterward, “Raw Dawg” called for a fight against Asu Almabayev, and I’m not against it. Almabayev (No. 8) is coming off huge submission win over Charles Johnson (see it here), his third straight win at 125 pounds. This is a great contest between two talented 125-pound fighters who are nothing but excitement once the fight starts.
Winner: King Green
Who He Should Face Next: Dan Hooker
Green locked down his fourth straight win — third straight finish — after stopping Terrance McKinney in the closing seconds of the opening round (highlights here). Green has been calling for a fight against Dan Hooker for some time now, and after his big win last night, it was “The Hangman” who called out King. When prompted about the callout during the post-fight presser, Green didn’t really commit to it, but found it odd that now that he is on a run the slumping Hooker is quick to mention his name. I normally don’t like putting a streaking fighter up against one on a losing streak, but if both men want it, then let them have it.
