Dana White: UFC 329 Will Have The Largest Live Gate In UFC History
UFC 329, headlined by Conor McGregor's highly anticipated rematch against Max Holloway, is poised to shatter the promotion's live gate record, reaching an astounding $25 million. UFC CEO Dana White confirmed this figure, highlighting McGregor's unparalleled drawing power, as he now anchors four of the top five highest-grossing UFC events. The former two-division champion returns to the Octagon after a July 2021 absence, facing Holloway a decade after their first encounter. Despite McGregor's recent 1-3 record and a prior canceled return, the Las Vegas event at T-Mobile Arena, streaming on Paramount+, generates immense buzz. Holloway enters as the betting favorite, having been significantly more active.
According to UFC CEO Dana White, Saturday’s UFC 329 fight card will set a new live gate record for the fight promotion. The event is headlined by the return of Conor McGregor. McGregor, the former two-division UFC champion, last stepped into the Octagon in July 2021. In the headlining bout of UFC 329, McGregor faces former UFC featherweight titleholder Max Holloway in a rematch. UFC 329 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card streams on Paramount+.
“The Conor McGregor effect is huge,” White told ESPN. “Our biggest gate ever was the Sphere (UFC 306), $22 million, this gate beat it at $25 million. So this is the biggest gate in UFC history for his return. The city is buzzing.”
With that announcement. McGregor will have been at the top of the card for four of the five largest live gates in UFC history.
Before UFC 306, the UFC live gate record was held by UFC 205 ($17.7 million). The next two highest events are UFC 229 ($17,188,895) and UFC 300 ($16,508,823).
Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway
Paddy Pimblett vs. Benoit St. Denis
Mario Bautista vs. Cory Sandhagen
Lone'er Kavanagh vs. Brandon Royval
King Green vs. Terrance McKinney
Nikita Krylov vs. Robert Whittaker
Elisha Ellison vs. Gable Steveson
Cody Garbrandt vs. Adrian Yanez
Kai Kamaka III vs. Luke Riley
Cong Wang vs. Tracy Cortez
Cesar Almeida vs. Damian Pinas
Farid Basharat vs. John Garza
Ryan Gandra vs. Zach Reese
Alessandro Costa vs. Cody Durden
This is not the first time UFC CEO Dana White has announced a McGregor return to the cage. In April 2024, the UFC booked McGregor vs. Michael Chandler for the main event of UFC 303. A month later, White was happy with ticket sales for the event, saying UFC 303, which was booked for June 29, 2024 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, would be the first UFC card to have a live gate of $20 million or more.
Things fell apart in mid-June when McGregor withdrew from UFC 303 because of a broken toe. The card, which was headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between then-champion Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka, drew a live gate of $15,909,243.
UFC 306 became the first card to top the $20 million live gate number. That event, at Sphere in Las Vegas drew $21,829,245 on an attendance of 16,024.
Ticket prices for UFC 329 have not been announced. The fight card anchors International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
The 37-year-old McGregor (22-6) is 1-3 since October 2018. His most recent win was a January 2020 TKO victory over Donald Cerrone. He is coming off back-to-back TKO losses to Dustin Poirier. McGregor’s most recent fight, his July 2021 loss to Poirier, came after a broken leg left McGregor unable to continue.
Holloway has fought eight times since McGregor’s last UFC outing, he is 5-3 in those bouts. Losing title fights to Charles Oliveira (symbolic BMF belt), Ilia Topuria (featherweight), and Alex Volkanovski (featherweight). The 34-year-old’s wins came against Yair Rodriguez, Arnold Allen, Korean Zombie, Justin Gaethje (for the BMF title), and Dustin Poirier (defense of the BMF title).
McGregor and Holloway first met at 145 pounds in August 2013. McGregor won that contest via decision.
When the betting odds for the rematch opened, Holloway was listed as the -550 favorite over the +420 McGregor. Today, Holloway is listed at -400, while McGregor checks in as the +330 betting underdog.
We will have more on UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2 as fight night nears. We will report on the official live gate and attendance for the fight card when that information is available.