UFC 329 was supposed to end with one of the biggest rematches of the year.

Conor McGregor returned after five years away to face Max Holloway, the man he defeated long before either fighter became a UFC legend.

Instead, the main event lasted only 69 seconds.

Fortunately for the fans inside T-Mobile Arena, the rest of the card had already done more than enough heavy lifting. Paddy Pimblett found a submission in under a minute, Brandon Royval survived disaster to complete a comeback, Robert Whittaker passed his first light heavyweight test, and Gable Steveson introduced himself with something nobody expected from an Olympic wrestling champion. Striking. Lots of it.

UFC 329 lost its main event before it really began, but the supporting card refused to go quietly.

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Max Holloway Defeats Conor McGregor After Sudden Knee Injury

The rematch began with urgency.

McGregor immediately claimed the center and launched a flying kick less than three seconds into the fight. It was the kind of dramatic opening expected from a fighter returning after such a long absence.

Then everything changed.

As McGregor landed, his right knee buckled awkwardly. He immediately began limping, but he still attempted to continue.

Holloway noticed the problem almost instantly.

Rather than charging forward and treating the injured McGregor like free target practice, Holloway cautiously pressured while repeatedly looking toward referee Mike Beltran. He appeared to understand that McGregor was no longer physically capable of defending himself properly.

McGregor briefly signaled that he wanted to continue, but every movement told a different story. He could barely place weight on the damaged leg, and the fight was eventually stopped at 1:09 of Round 1.

Holloway officially earned the TKO victory and finally evened the score from their first meeting.

But there was almost nothing to analyze.

No extended striking battle.
No proof that McGregor’s timing had survived five years away.
No answer to how Holloway would handle McGregor’s counters at welterweight.

The main event ended before it could become a fight.

It was not Holloway’s fault, and he handled the situation with restraint. Still, considering the history, anticipation, and attention surrounding McGregor’s return, it was one of the most anticlimactic UFC main events in recent memory.

UFC 329 promised a sequel and a big hype up. But the audience received an injury report instead.

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Paddy Pimblett Turns Benoit Saint Denis’ Aggression Against Him

If the main event ended too quickly to tell us anything, Paddy Pimblett’s 52-second submission told us plenty.

Benoit Saint Denis came forward aggressively, as expected. His entire fighting identity is built around pressure, physicality, and dragging opponents into uncomfortable exchanges.

This time, his aggression opened the wrong door.

During the first grappling exchange, Pimblett wrapped up a D’Arce choke. The submission became tight almost immediately, and Saint Denis had no time to build an escape.

Seconds later, he was unconscious.

It was an excellent finish from Pimblett, but it also exposed a familiar danger in Saint Denis’ approach.

Against Dustin Poirier, Saint Denis repeatedly left his neck available while driving forward for takedowns. Poirier attempted several guillotines, and although none finished the fight, they were warning signs hidden underneath the jokes about Poirier’s famous obsession with the guillotine submission.

Saint Denis survived those attempts.

But Pimblett did not give him the same escape.

Pressure is only useful when it creates controlled danger for the opponent. Saint Denis sometimes creates equal danger for himself. His willingness to charge into grappling positions makes him exciting, but at the highest level, excitement without positional discipline can become a donation.

Pimblett accepted the gift and closed the choke.

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Brandon Royval Survives the Fire and Finds the Finish

Brandon Royval fights like someone has removed the pause button.

From the opening round, he pushed his usual high pace, mixing strikes, takedowns, scrambles, and submission attempts. Lone’er Kavanagh remained composed and found clean counters, but Royval never allowed the fight to settle into a comfortable striking match.

Then Kavanagh nearly ended everything in Round 2.

A sharp right hand dropped Royval, and Kavanagh followed with heavy ground-and-pound. For several moments, the stoppage looked close. But Royval survived.

That alone changed the fight.

Kavanagh had produced the biggest moment, but Royval carried the momentum of survival into the final round. He returned to the grappling exchanges, created more scrambles, and continued forcing Kavanagh to defend.

Eventually, Royval took the back and locked in a rear-naked choke.

Kavanagh was forced to submit late in Round 3, completing one of the best comebacks of the event.

This was Royval’s entire career compressed into one fight.

Chaos.
Damage.
Survival.
More chaos.

Then a submission appears somewhere inside the wreckage.

Kavanagh proved he could hurt an elite flyweight, but Royval reminded him that hurting “Raw Dawg” and finishing him are two very different assignments.

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Robert Whittaker Passes His Light Heavyweight Debut Test

Robert Whittaker’s light heavyweight debut began with an uncomfortable question:

Could he handle the size different?

Nikita Krylov immediately tried to provide the wrong answer.

In Round 1, Krylov pressured Whittaker into the clinch, mixed in wrestling, and used his larger frame to control positions against the fence and on the mat. Whittaker landed a few clean counters, but much of his attention went toward defending takedowns and recovering space.

Krylov appeared to take the opening round.

Then Whittaker adjusted.

In Round 2, he stopped allowing Krylov to close distance freely. He established the jab, circled away from the clinch, and repeatedly connected with straight right hands.

The speed difference became obvious.

Krylov continued moving forward, but now he was walking through the cleaner punches without securing the same control. Whittaker was no longer fighting Krylov’s size. He was making Krylov chase his speed.

That pattern continued in Round 3.

Whittaker landed several hard right hands, including one that badly damaged Krylov’s jaw. Krylov reacted immediately, turning away and reaching toward his face as Whittaker continued the attack.

The referee stopped the fight at 3:59.

It was a successful light heavyweight debut built on adjustment rather than immediate domination.

Krylov used wrestling to take the first chapter.
Whittaker changed the range, took over with boxing, and wrote the ending with his right hand.

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Gable Steveson Wins Without Relying on Wrestling

Gable Steveson entered his UFC debut heavily favorited with one obvious expectation.

Everyone expected wrestling.

Instead, the Olympic gold medalist decided to introduce himself as a heavyweight pressure striker.

Elisha Ellison opened with a jab as Steveson advanced aggressively. Steveson even attempted a head kick, briefly slipping before returning to his feet.

His first takedown attempt was met by a guillotine threat, forcing him to abandon the easy story and fight on the feet. Ellison landed an elbow in the clinch, and an accidental low blow from Gable briefly paused the action.

After the restart, Steveson began walking Ellison down.

He mixed front kicks to the body with hooks and straight punches, forcing Ellison backward. Once he trapped him at close range, Steveson unloaded a barrage of punches and knees.

Ellison collapsed under the pressure, and the fight was stopped at 2:29 of Round 1.

It was an entertaining debut and probably a smarter introduction than a predictable wrestling domination.

However, it also revealed work still to be done.

Steveson’s pressure was powerful, but his striking remained raw. He entered aggressively, briefly lost his balance, and relied heavily on physical force once the exchange became messy.

That worked against Ellison.

Against higher-level heavyweights, those same openings could become dangerous. Fighters such as Ciryl Gane or Tom Aspinall would punish uncontrolled entries before Steveson could turn the fight into a physical storm.

The debut showed his potential. But it did not show a finished product.

That is perfectly normal. The dangerous part is that his unfinished version is already capable of overwhelming UFC heavyweights.

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Final Thoughts

UFC 329 will probably be remembered first for what did not happen.

McGregor and Holloway never got the rematch their history deserved. The main event ended with an injury before either fighter could establish a real strategy.

But beneath that disappointment, the card delivered several meaningful stories.

Pimblett punished Saint Denis’ reckless entry with a beautiful D’Arce choke.
Royval survived a near-finish and completed another chaotic comeback.
Whittaker adjusted to light heavyweight size and took over with speed and boxing.
Steveson won his UFC debut without leaning on the weapon everyone expected him to use.
The main event lasted 69 seconds.

The rest of UFC 329 made sure the night lasted much longer in the memory.