McGregor rips Holloway's glasses off in intense face-off
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- McGregor was loudly cheered inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, while American opponent Holloway was booed, after he ripped Holloway's glasses off during an intense pre-fight face-off that required security to separate them.
- McGregor is returning to the octagon for the first time since breaking his leg in defeat by Dustin Poirier in 2021, having won just one fight in 10 years, though he insists he is coming back 'for the love of the game.'
- McGregor hoisted two commemorative UFC titles draped in Irish colours to symbolise his record as the first simultaneous two-weight world champion in UFC history, after his 2015 featherweight and 2016 lightweight triumphs.
- McGregor has been mired in controversy since his last fight: a Dublin civil jury found he assaulted Nikita Hand in December 2018, ordering him to pay £206,000 plus damages, and he served an 18-month UFC anti-doping ban after missing three drugs tests in 2024.
- Holloway, 34, a former UFC featherweight champion widely regarded as one of the best fighters of all time, said he cannot wait to 'take those two pretty belts off his hands' and noted McGregor has 'found God, got his family right here.'
- Paddy Pimblett received the second-biggest crowd pop of the night, behind McGregor, ahead of his co-main event against France's Benoit Saint-Denis — his first fight since defeat by Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight belt in January.
- UFC president Dana White predicted the McGregor-Holloway rematch will draw 'the biggest gate in UFC history,' banking on McGregor's drawing power despite dwindling Irish fan support and questions over whether he still deserves the spotlight.
Why it matters: UFC is staking its largest-ever gate on a 37-year-old fighter who has won once in a decade and is returning from a broken leg, a doping ban, and a civil rape judgment — a bet that McGregor's star power transcends his diminished record, and one that will test whether the brand can monetise spectacle over sporting merit.
