UFC 329 went down on July 11th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The highly anticipated card featured 14-bouts and was headlined by the long-awaited rematch between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway. It was anticlimactic to say the least. The rest of the card delivered, however, including the co main event which saw top ranked lightweights, Paddy Pimblett and Benoit Saint Denis sharing the octagon. 11 of the 14 fights on the card ended with a finish. This includes four of the five main card bouts. Two losers on this card are competing for worst performance between co-main and main event losers.
Conor McGregor
Max Holloway earned an unsatisfying TKO victory Saturday as Conor McGregor rendered himself unable to continue in mere seconds with a leaping roundhouse kick on Saturday. The rematch, over a decade in the making, was highly anticipated. McGrogor was making a return after five years away, last appearing opposite of Dustin Poirier, but going out in similar fashion via a gruesome injured knee in the opening round. McGregor is now 1-4 in the past decade, as absurd as that stat sounds.
His only win during this time came opposite of Donald Cerrone in 2020. McGregor had the injury against Poirier, withdrew from his scheduled bout against Michael Chandler in 2024 with a broken toe, and now this. Conor is also turning 38 on the July 14. Rough place to be for the UFC’s first-time double champ as he’ll need to assess the injury, recover and brave another walk to try and recapture the mystical performance he’s chasing.
Conor and Max should run this one back for Conor vs. Max III. Lot of this depends on the injury and how long Conor takes to recover, but the interest would still be there from fans. Back up in this scenario, going with an obvious one, and a previous losers article pick here, Michael Chandler. The pair were matched up before, and Chandler is 2-6 within the promotion and on a 4-fight skid. Also, the exact type of fighter that McGregor should fight in this scenario, being a 40-year-old wrestler willing to engage. Of course, these matchups would be at 170 and headline a numbered card.
Conor’s next fight: Max Holloway III or Michael Chandler
Benoit Saint Denis
(#9) Paddy Pimblett made it look easy in the co main event on Saturday as he took less than a minute to strangle (#5) Benoit Sanit Denis via d’arce choke. Terrible showing for Benoit here. He was also on a 4-fight win streak heading into this one, all finishes. Saint Denis lost all of his momentum with this outcome, especially with just how fast it happened. BSD is now 9-4 with the promotion.
BSD can no longer draw (#1) Illia Topuria as mentioned in a previous losers article. After the result on Saturday that is just too great of a leap. Instead, a good matchup to target here would be giving BSD the loser of (#6) Mateusz Gamrot vs. (#8) Quillan Salkilld. That fight goes down on August 8th and would be a much more appropriate matchup for BSD after the loss on Saturday.
If Gamrot loses he will be 3-3 in his last six fights. Gamrot would fall to 9-5 with the UFC. Gamrot and BSD also share a common opponent of Dan Hooker in their recent fights. Quillan Salkilld, a relatively new entry into the lightweight rankings, would be 5-1 if he lost. The loss would be his first with the UFC as well. Quillan and BSD share a common recent opponent and outcome as both finished Beneil Dariush in the first round recently. Either way, a compettive and fresh matchup for one of the most exciting divisions in the sport.
Benoit’s next fight: (#6) Mateusz Gamrot vs. (#8) Quillan Salkilld loser
Cory Sandhagen
(#5) Mario Bautista turned in a nearly flawless performance as he out struck and hurt (#4) Cory Sandhagen on the way to a unanimous decision victory. The bout was actually a rematch as Bautista first fought Sandhagen on short notice, for his UFC debut in early 2019, and was submitted in the first round.
Sandhagen has now lost three of his last four fights, including his unsuccessful title challenge opposite of Merab Dvalishvili last October. Sandhagen, is now 11-6 under the UFC banner.
Going with a pick from a previous losers article here, Aiemann Zahabi. Zahabi was just finished on the UFC Freedom 250 card last month by Sean O’Malley. Heading into that fight Zahabi was riding a 7-fight win streak that included wins over Jose Aldo and Marlon Vera. This would be a great reset fight for Cory and would still keep Zahabi in a fair place after being KO’d by a former champ. This could be the main event of a fight night card or sneak into the main card of a numbered card.
Cory’s next fight: (#12) Aiemann Zahabi
Lone’er Kavanagh
(#4) Brandon Royval overcame adversity in the second round of his bout with (#5) Lone’er Kavanagh on Saturday to secure a rear naked choke in the final minutes. The back and forth, high action bout ultimately ended up scoring fight of the night honors. Kavanagh now falls to 3-2 with the UFC since being signed to the promotion in 2024 off of a Contender Series victory. Lone’er has defeated Jose Ochoa, Felipe dos Santos, and former champ, Brandon Moreno. His other loss, the first of his pro career, was to Charles Johnson.
For Lon’er’s next fight, going with a previous losers article pick here, Kyoji Horiguchi. Kyoji is 35-year-old veteran that is 2-1 in his second stint with the UFC. He’s got wins over Tagir Ulanbekov and Amir Albazi. In his most recent fight, he was finished in the third round by Manel Kape. That fight was on June 20 so the timing would match up well. Interesting matchup that could easily steal another fight of the night honor, as it’s guaranteed to be fast-paced output.
Lone’er’s next fight: (#7) Kyoji Horiguchi
Terrance McKinney
King Green kicked off the main card on Saturday with a thrilling one-round comeback after Terrance McKinney had the veteran on his heels early. The result drops McKinney to 8-6 under the promotional banner. He has now lost two of his last three fights.
Good next fight for McKinney would be a matchup against Alexander Hernandez. McKinney and Hernandez share two common opponents and outcomes in Drew Dober (both lost by TKO) and Mike Breeden (both won via first round TKO). Herandez is coming off a decision loss to Rafa Garcia in late April so timing wouldn’t be the greatest. But he’s 10-8 with the UFC, so similar promotional record as well. This would be a wild striking matchup and could land high on the main card of a fight night card.
Terrance’s next fight: Alexander Hernandez or Michael Johnson
