Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway back up fighter confirmed ahead of UFC 329

A UFC lightweight contender has claimed that he is the backup fighter who will step in if either Conor McGregor or Max Holloway pulls out of their UFC 329 bout.

Former two-weight UFC champion McGregor has not fought since suffering a second successive loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021, a fight in which he sustained a broken leg.

Despite his lengthy hiatus, the Irishman is finally set to make his long-awaited return at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on July 11, where he will face old foe Holloway, having previously defeated the Hawaiian in 2013.

Benoit Saint-Denis faces Britain's Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett in the co-main event, while Cory Sandhagen takes on Mario Bautista in a bantamweight bout.

Brandon Royval will face Lone'er Kavanagh in a flyweight contest, with King Green taking on Terrance McKinney to round off the main card.

READ NEXT: Former UFC champion Jiri Prochazka shows off absolutely bizarre health routine that helps him 'cleanse'

Of course, when the card was announced, many doubted whether McGregor would be able to get into the physical condition required, given his previous leg break and the fact he pulled out of a scheduled bout against Michael Chandler due to a broken toe in 2024.

And while the bout is now less than a week away, the UFC have got themselves covered in the event that McGregor or Holloway pull out of the fight, with Mauricio Ruffy confirming that he is the backup fighter who will be required to step in in the event of a pull-out.

“Hey guys, you know I made myself available for the Conor McGregor fight and Max Holloway,” he said.

“I’m going on a trip to Las Vegas. I took good care of myself. These guys made me train halfway through my vacation.”

The Brazilian Ruffy, who stepped on the scales to show he weighed 185.6 pounds, was linked with a potential fight with McGregor earlier this year and claimed the Irishman decided against taking him on.

“We are going to travel now to Vegas on Monday and let’s see what happens,” Ruffy added. “Me against Conor McGregor, I believe, would be a very good fight... I believe it would be a really cool fight against Max Holloway.”

🚨 Mauricio Ruffy just announced that he will serve as the backup fighter for Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway.

He is already studying Max Holloway tape 👀

🎥 @Ruffymma pic.twitter.com/dHlqTySDpJ

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) July 5, 2026

Ruffy boasts an impressive professional record of 14-2, with wins over Green, Rafael Fiziev and, most recently, Michael Chandler on the White House card.

His only UFC defeat came against Saint-Denis in September 2025.

Ruffy claims McGregor ‘refused’ to fight him at UFC Freedom 250

As previously mentioned, Ruffy claimed McGregor decided against fighting him on the UFC White House card.

Speaking on the Overdogs Brasil podcast, he said: “There were some fallacies about [me] fighting Paddy Pimblett.

“Conor McGregor even talked about the possibility of a fight, opened up the possibility of fighting, it was discussed, but he’s the one who makes the decisions and he made the decision not to fight. I also didn’t have high expectations about it.”