UFC 329 went down last night (Sat., July 11, 2026) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, which featured the long-awaited return of Conor McGregor after five years away from action. Unfortunately, his comeback ended in anti-climactic fashion, suffering a knee injury just seconds into the Welterweight fight that resulted in a first round technical knockout win for Max Holloway (see it again here). The co-main event didn’t last long, either, after Paddy Pimblett slept Benoit Saint-Denis with a suffocating d’arce choke in less than one minute (highlights here).
Biggest Winner: Paddy Pimblett
Pimblett had himself a night, securing one of the biggest (and fastest) wins of his career with a 52-second destruction of Saint-Denis (see it again here). The amazing submission win was a great bounce back for “The Baddy” after losing to Justin Gaethje in his previous fight. Currently ranked No. 6, Pimblett will be in the Top 5 come next week, which will set him up for a bigger fight moving forward. He also locked down an extra $100,000 for his finish, which undoubtedly sent him home happier. He talked-the-talk and definitely walked-the-walk last night, putting him on the fast-track once again for superstardom.
Runner (s) Up: King Green, Brandon Royval
Green has quietly been on a tear, adding to it last night by securing another win after knocking out Terrance McKinney with one second remaining in the first round (highlights). He has now won four straight, his first such streak in 12 years. With the win, Green could very well crack the Top 15 once the new rankings are released. He also locked down an extra $100,000 in post-fight bonus cash. As for Royval, he and Lone’er Kavanagh put on a show after a 15-minute war that saw both men have success. It was a tight contest up until Royval caught Kavanagh in the third round with an air-tight submission choke (relive it here). Both men banked $100,000 for “Fight of the Night,” but it was “Raw Dawg” who got to fly home with a win.
Biggest Losers: Conor McGregor
It goes without saying that McGregor had the worst night of anyone on the card. After years on the sidelines and then months of hyping up his comeback, it was all for naught after he blew out his knee literally seconds into the fight during his first offensive attack. Just like that, the legend of McGregor is probably done for good, despite Holloway’s confusing call for a trilogy match. That is likely not going to happen and the mixed martial arts (MMA) world will not be surprised if “Notorious” hangs his gloves up for good. If this truly is the end for McGregor, it’s a horrible way to go. What will make this loss and injury worse are going to be the conspiracy theories of coming in with a pre-existing injury, which is a bad look.