UFC 329 takes over T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 11, 2026, headlining International Fight Week with the long-anticipated rematch between Conor McGregor and Max Holloway at welterweight. But the McGregor headline is only part of the story. The undercard is loaded with grappling action, Paddy Pimblett brings his submission game to a tough lightweight matchup, and a rising heavyweight with elite wrestling credentials is on the prelims. Here is what to watch -- and why Fight Week always sends a surge of new students to the mat.
Reviewed by BJJ Gyms · Updated 2026-07-27
Sources: UFC.com event page for UFC 329; Forbes MMA coverage (July 2026).
Conor McGregor (22-6) returns to the octagon for the first time since his broken leg at UFC 264 in July 2021 -- a five-year layoff that will be one of the most talked-about storylines of the fight. He enters as the longest-priced underdog of his UFC career, taking on a man who has beaten virtually everyone put in front of him since their first meeting. Their original bout was in 2013, a low-profile undercard fight that McGregor won by unanimous decision when neither fighter had reached the heights that followed. The 2026 rematch is a different animal entirely.
Max Holloway (27-9) is making his welterweight debut and recently lost the BMF title to Charles Oliveira. His signature style is relentless forward pressure and an extraordinary punch output -- he simply does not stop throwing. The question at welterweight is whether that output holds up at 170 pounds against a larger, heavier McGregor who has been training for this specific matchup for over a year. McGregor's record since 2016 has been inconsistent, but his training footage out of this camp has drawn significant attention from striking coaches who see an older but sharper version of the left-hand precision that defined his peak.
From a grappling perspective, McGregor has historically been underrated on the mat. His clinch work and hip control have always been above average for a striking specialist, and in a welterweight fight where he carries more natural size, wrestling takedowns become a more viable tool. Holloway has improved his wrestling defense substantially since the featherweight days, but this is genuinely new territory for him. The grappling margins at welterweight are different from featherweight, and that unknowable factor is part of what makes the fight interesting beyond just the striking exchange.
Paddy Pimblett (Liverpool, England) is one of the most polarizing and popular fighters in the division. His jiu-jitsu background -- he trained under the Roger Gracie system and has demonstrated flexible, opportunistic submission hunting in the clinch and on the ground -- gives him genuine grappling credentials. His striking is entertaining, his cardio has been questioned, and his chin has been tested. He has a way of finding submissions from positions where most fighters would just look to survive.
Benoît Saint Denis (France) is a former military paratrooper with a wrestling-heavy, pressure-forward style. His approach is to impose physicality and volume -- his preparation is as much athletic as technical. The matchup is interesting precisely because both fighters want to be the one imposing their game: Pimblett wants to drag it to the mat on his terms, while Saint Denis wants to use wrestling to end up in top position where his ground and pound becomes dominant. Whoever controls the where and the when of the grappling exchanges will likely control the fight.
This is the kind of fight that jiujiteiros watch with a translator in hand. When Pimblett locks up a guillotine in the clinch or Saint Denis works for a trip, the technique being applied is the same vocabulary that gets drilled in academies around the world every evening. The UFC octagon is not a pure jiu-jitsu match, but the grappling moments in mixed martial arts fights are real technique demonstrations -- and watching them with any mat time to draw on changes what you see and what you appreciate.
Beyond the main and co-main events, the UFC 329 card includes Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista at bantamweight, Brandon Royval vs. Lone'er Kavanagh at flyweight, and on the prelims, Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison at heavyweight. Steveson is a former NCAA and Olympic gold medalist in wrestling who brings legitimate elite wrestling credentials to heavyweight -- a category where pure striking often dominates and grappling specialists are rare. His prelim fight is worth watching for anyone interested in the question of whether Olympic-level wrestling translates to MMA, and what adjustments a world-class wrestler has to make when punches and submissions are added to the equation.
UFC International Fight Week is, reliably, the moment when casual MMA fans become interested in the sport at a new level. The Las Vegas fight atmosphere -- the open workouts, the media coverage, the sheer density of combat sports culture in one city for one week -- does something to people. Search trends for 'BJJ classes near me' and 'MMA gym' spike during Fight Week every year, and 2026 with the McGregor return is positioned to produce one of the biggest spikes in years.
If you have been watching UFC 329 and thinking that you want to understand what you are seeing from the inside, this is the moment. Every major city in the country has BJJ academies that welcome adult beginners, and most run intro classes specifically for people who have never set foot on a mat. 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu -- the no-gi system featured in this directory -- has locations nationwide that take beginners exactly where they are, no experience required. The best way to find out whether the mat is for you is to take one class. Find a gym near you and show up.
The striking exchanges get the highlight reels, but the grappling moments often decide fights. Here are seven things to watch for from a mat perspective at UFC 329.
BJJ Gyms is an independent directory, not a gym. We feature 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu as our recommended no-gi system. Always take a free trial and vet any academy yourself before committing.
UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway 2 takes place on Saturday, July 11, 2026 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada -- just off the Las Vegas Strip, during UFC International Fight Week. The main card begins at 9 PM ET. The event streams on Paramount+.
Holloway most recently competed at lightweight and lost the BMF belt to Charles Oliveira in March 2026. For this McGregor rematch, both fighters agreed to meet at welterweight (170 lbs). It is Holloway's debut at that weight class, and whether his high-volume, pressure-forward striking style translates against a larger opponent is one of the central questions of the fight.
Watching MMA at any level is a legitimate gateway to wanting to understand the grappling exchanges from the inside. UFC 329's Fight Week timing is historically when gym searches spike. Most BJJ academies offer free intro classes -- you do not need any experience to walk in. If the grappling in the octagon has you curious, the best next step is one class at a gym near you.