UFC International Fight Week runs July 9 to 12 in Vegas with expanded schedule and McGregor return

The UFC’s 14th International Fight Week begins Thursday in Las Vegas, a four-day run of ceremonies, fan events, and fights that culminates in UFC 329 on Saturday, July 11 at T-Mobile Arena. The main event pairs Conor McGregor against Max Holloway at welterweight, McGregor’s first appearance in the Octagon since he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. The card streams on Paramount+ under the promotion’s current broadcast deal, with no separate pay-per-view purchase required.

The week opens on July 9 with the 2026 UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at 4 p.m. PT at T-Mobile Arena, hosted by longtime commentator Jon Anik. The ceremony is free and open to the public and streams live on Paramount+ and UFC Fight Pass. It is a bigger class than the draft framing usually suggests. Five induction slots are being filled across three wings.

The Modern Wing brings in former UFC and WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. The Fight Wing recognises the UFC 248 strawweight championship bout between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jędrzejczyk, widely considered one of the greatest women’s fights in the sport’s history and the Fight of the Year for 2020. The Contributors Wing inducts longtime UFC writer and editorial director Thomas Gerbasi, posthumously.

Each of the Modern Wing inductees carries a distinct legacy. Cruz’s footwork and angles reshaped bantamweight tactics through two UFC title reigns and a career-defining comeback from a series of injuries that could have ended most careers earlier. Johnson’s 11 consecutive flyweight title defences from 2012 to 2018 remain the longest run in company history at any weight class. Weidman’s back-to-back wins over Anderson Silva in 2013 ended what was, at the time, the most dominant championship reign in the sport. The Zhang vs. Jędrzejczyk bout, meanwhile, is the rare fight that earns its Hall of Fame induction as an event rather than through a single fighter.

Immediately after the ceremony, T-Mobile Arena hosts the UFC 329 Press Conference at 7 p.m., wrapping the Thursday programming into a single evening at a single venue.

Friday, July 10 delivers two events. UFC 329’s ceremonial weigh-ins are scheduled at T-Mobile Arena, with the entire card stepping on the scale for the traditional face-offs. That afternoon, Power Slap 21 runs a live event at The Chelsea, part of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Saturday, July 11 is UFC 329. The early prelims begin at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, prelims at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, and the main card at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. Alongside McGregor vs. Holloway 2, the card includes Paddy Pimblett vs. Benoit Saint Denis at lightweight in the co-main, Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista at bantamweight, Brandon Royval vs. Lone’er Kavanagh at flyweight, Robert Whittaker’s light heavyweight debut against Nikita Krylov, and 2020 Olympic freestyle gold medalist Gable Steveson’s UFC debut against Elisha Ellison at heavyweight.

The main event on Saturday carries obvious commercial weight. McGregor, 37, has not fought since the trilogy bout with Poirier nearly five years ago. Holloway, 34, has spent the intervening period building one of the busiest resumes in the sport, moving between featherweight and lightweight and picking up the promotion’s symbolic BMF title from Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 in April 2024. The two last met at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen in August 2013, a featherweight contest McGregor won by unanimous decision. Saturday’s rematch is contracted at 170 pounds, which will be Holloway’s first appearance at welterweight and McGregor’s third at the weight class after the two Nate Diaz fights in 2016 and the Cerrone finish in 2020.

The layoff introduces variables neither camp can fully rehearse. McGregor’s leg surgery, subsequent rehabilitation, and time away from sanctioned competition mean the fight is as much a referendum on his physical restoration as it is a sporting contest. Holloway enters as the more recently tested fighter by a wide margin. Sportsbooks have priced Holloway between -240 and -300 with McGregor as a +180 to +240 underdog, the longest underdog price of McGregor’s UFC career.

Sunday, July 12 closes the week with a Zuffa Boxing card at the Meta APEX. The Zuffa Boxing operation, which the UFC’s parent TKO launched earlier this year, has been running periodic cards through 2026 and slots into International Fight Week for the first time this cycle. Its integration into the summer showcase reflects the broader expansion of TKO’s combat-sports operations under the Paramount era.

Around the anchor events, the promotion has scheduled fan activations across Resorts World and The Cosmopolitan, the Bud Light Summer Series Concert, and multiple public appearances and media availabilities. The commercial architecture of Fight Week has grown steadily since the first edition in 2012, when it centred on a single fan expo alongside UFC 148. Fourteen years on, it functions as one of the busier sports and entertainment weekends on the Las Vegas summer calendar.

What happens inside the cage on July 11 will define the week’s legacy. McGregor’s return, whatever its outcome, is expected to draw one of the largest streaming audiences of the year on Paramount+. Holloway’s task is straightforward on paper and considerably harder in practice: fight the version of McGregor who shows up on Saturday, not the one who left in 2021.