headliner had nothing to do with the
Most Valuable Promotions “Rousey vs. Carano” main card.
The Conor
McGregor-Max
Holloway rematch was confirmed on July 16 — just as Francis
Ngannou was making his walk to the cage to face Philipe
Lins at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The announcement came
during a relatively nondescript
UFC Fight Night 276 card, which only fueled speculation that it
was made at that time to take attention away from Most Valuable
Promotion’s first-ever MMA card.
Doing His Own Thing
White claims the timing of the McGregor-Holloway announcement
coincided with the bout being finalized.
“Not a coincidence,” White told Fred
Talks Fighting. “I had a f—king fight here that night. Anybody
who thinks that I gave a s—t what was going on anywhere else is out
of their f—ing minds.
“We announced it as soon as we got it done, and we were in the
middle of our event. (I don’t) give a f—k what those guys are
doing. You kidding me?”
The booking had been rumored for quite some time, and there was
speculation that it was going to be revealed during the UFC 328
broadcast one week prior. The Las Vegas-based promotion often makes
significant announcements during major numbered events, but that
wasn’t the case this time around.
UFC 329 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and marks
McGregor’s first Octagon appearance since July 2021.