Conor McGregor makes his long-awaited return to the octagon in Las Vegas this weekend when he takes on Max Holloway at welterweight.
There were many who thought we would never see ‘The Notorious’ compete again after his horror leg break five years ago but we again get to witness the biggest name in the sports’ history on Sunday.
My thoughts and betting plays for UFC 329 can be found below.
A new generation of UFC fans will be introduced to ‘The Notorious’ one Conor McGregor after five years away from the octagon due to a sickening broken leg against Dustin Poirier in 2021, sidelining the biggest star in the sport since that fateful night in Las Vegas.
The Irishman entered the sport in 2013 not just to take part but ‘take over’ and that’s exactly what he did.
His rise in the biggest promotion in the sport included becoming the first person to hold two UFC belts simultaneously when he first knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at Featherweight and then Eddie Alverez at Lightweight.
This run also included a unanimous decision win over a very young Max Holloway.
That loss for Holloway was the catalyst for 13 straight wins which included the UFC Featherweight title and he would go on to win, and defend, the BMF title and fight the biggest names in the sport.
One has been extremely active. The other has been missing in action.
One we can trust. And one we simply can not.
Prediction: Max Holloway by KO/TKO @ $1.88
Two highly ranked Lightweights will do battle in the co-main event and the winner will put themselves firmly in the picture for a title shot after a likely rematch between Justin Gaethje and Illia Topuria.
It has been a dream of Paddy Pimblett’s to be on a card with Conor McGregor and he gets to live that this weekend.
He entered the UFC with a similar amount of hype as McGregor and there is no doubt he financially benefited from the path that he laid before him.
Seven straight wins culminated in an interim title fight against Justin Gaethje in January and although he was beaten to a pulp, he showed determination and grit to make it through the full five rounds.
BSD was on a roll before a two fight losing streak halted his momentum toward the top of the division.
Since those losses he has finished his opponents the last four times he has entered the octagon and he has all the tools and weapons to challenge for the title should he progress past Pimblett on Sunday.
Both fighters have excellent grappling abilities but I’m predicting the fight takes place on the feet for the most part.
Prediction: Fight To End In KO/TKO @ $2.50
Cory Sandhagen has been at the top of the Bantamweight division for the best part of a decade but has never tasted the ultimate success.
He has had four tires at either a title eliminator, interim title or the actual title and has come up short each time.
He had his chance at gold against Merab Dvalishvili in October 2025 but lost a unanimous decision over five rounds.
Mario Bautista gets this opportunity against a high ranked opponent thanks to a body of sustained work in the UFC including nine wins in his last 10 fights.
This includes wins over Jose Aldo, Ricky Simon and Patchy Mix although they were all by decision.
This is not the first time these two have met with Cory Sandhagen winning by first round submission when Bautista made his UFC debut back in 2019.
Although it is a number of years later, I see a similar outcome.
Prediction: Cory Sandhagen To Win @ $1.68