Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway 2 LIVE: Ring walk times tonight for UFC 329 fight as ‘Notorious’ slaps rival during face-off – UK Times

“As it’s out there now, we had [Carlos] Prates as the first opponent,” McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, told journalist Ariel Helwani on Wednesday.

“‘Okay, we’re fighting Prates, let’s get going.’ I just never gave myself the time to think about: ‘Will it happen?’

“[I thought it would be] tough, I knew it was gonna be a hard fight, but you know, you keep your confidence. You start game-planning, you start training, you start studying.

“But it didn’t seem it was all that long into it, and then suddenly it was Max. Whoever it is, it is – as Conor would say.”

McGregor and Holloway are held back by security.

A fired-up Max Holloway at the press conference.

McGregor with his honorary, Irish-themed UFC belts.

McGregor in good spirits at the press conference.

McGregor – 5/2; Holloway – 3/10

Pimblett – 13/10; Saint-Denis – 8/13

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In the UK, the card will air live on TNT Sports pay-per-view at a cost of £19.99, and is also accessible via HBO Max, EE TV, Virgin Media, Amazon Prime Video, and Sky Sports. In the US, Paramount+ will stream the action, with CBS showing a segment of the card.

UFC 329 will take place on Saturday 11 July at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, US. The early prelims will begin at 10pm BST (2pm PT / 4pm CT / 5pm ET), with the regular prelims following at 12am BST (4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET) on Sunday, before the main card starts at 2am BST on Sunday (6pm PT / 8pm CT / 9pm ET on Saturday).

All weights in pounds; every fighter made weight:

Conor McGregor (170.5) vs Max Holloway (170)

Benoit Saint Denis (156) vs Paddy Pimblett (156)

Cory Sandhagen (135.5) vs Mario Bautista (135.5)

Brandon Royval (125) vs Lone’er Kavanagh (126)

King Green (155.5) vs Terrance McKinney (156)

Nikita Krylov (205.5) vs Robert Whittaker (205.5)

Gable Steveson (241) vs Elisha Ellison (236)

Cody Garbrandt (136) vs Adrian Yanez (136)

Luke Riley (146) vs Kai Kamaka III (146)

Tracy Cortez (126) vs Wang Cong (125.5)

Damian Pinas (185.5) vs Cesar Almeida (186)

Farid Basharat (136) vs John Garza (135.5)

Ryan Gandra (185.5) vs Zach Reese (184.5)

Alessandro Costa (126) vs Cody Durden (125.5)

In 2021, before Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 2, key figures spoke to the Independent about McGregor’s 2014 knockout of Poirier – a pivotal night on the Irishman’s journey to superstardom.

UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, backstage reporter Megan Olivi, and journalists Ariel Helwani and Petesy Carroll all feature.