Justin Gaethje says he'll attend Conor McGregor's UFC 329 fight, feels he avenged Max Holloway loss

Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor have engaged in a heated feud for many years, but they haven't clashed inside the octagon yet. Gaethje has now reaffirmed his intentions to fight and inflict damage upon McGregor. 

The ex-BMF champ and reigning UFC lightweight titlist has also outlined how he feels he has avenged his loss against Max Holloway. 

Justin Gaethje beat Ilia Topuria, who's the first fighter to KO the extraordinarily durable Max Holloway

Presently, former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor is set to face ex-UFC featherweight and ex-BMF titleholder Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11.

It'll be a rematch that'll be contested at welterweight, with their first encounter being a featherweight clash wherein McGregor outpointed Holloway back in 2013. 

Intriguingly, Gaethje suffered a fifth-round KO defeat and lost the BMF belt in a lightweight clash to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April 2024.

Holloway then went down in weight to challenge then-UFC featherweight champ Ilia Topuria for the 145-pound belt that October, but he was beaten by knockout. Topuria earned the honor of being the first to knock the tremendously durable Hawaiian fighter out. 

Fast-forward to UFC Freedom 250 that transpired on June 14, 2026 -- it had then-UFC lightweight kingpin Topuria facing then-interim UFC lightweight champ Gaethje. The back-and-forth fight ended with Gaethje becoming the first fighter to beat Topuria in MMA, stopping the Georgian-Spaniard via fourth-round TKO. 

Justin Gaethje eyes Conor McGregor fight, feels he's achieved revenge against Max Holloway by beating Ilia Topuria

During a recent conversation with Jim Rome on The Jim Rome Show, newly-crowned UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje gave his assessment of the Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway rematch. 

He alluded that McGregor hasn't competed since July of 2021 but added that he's still likely to have taken his training and comeback seriously, devoting at least six to eight months to fight-specific training. 

Gaethje implied that fighting is unpredictable, and he wouldn't count McGregor out against Holloway simply because of his hiatus from the sport.

Moreover, Gaethje pointed out that the fight taking place at welterweight adds another layer of unpredictability to it. For context, Holloway hasn't fought at welterweight yet, while McGregor has had a few fights at welterweight. 

Adding that he feels he's avenged his 2024 loss against Holloway, Gaethje stated, "But yeah, I'm very interested to see what happens in that fight (McGregor vs. Holloway). Max definitely knocked me out. But I feel like I got that win back with the Ilia Topuria fight." 

Furthermore, hinting that he'll attend longtime rival McGregor's fight against Holloway at UFC 329, Gaethje said: 

"And I would love, you know, as I've stated hundreds of times, publicly -- I would love to punch Conor McGregor in the face. So yeah, I'm excited about that fight. I'm excited to be there and watch it." 

Rome chimed in and indicated that McGregor is one of the rare top-tier fighters in and around Gaethje's weight class of lightweight, whom the American hasn't fought yet. He appeared to question whether Gaethje wants to fight McGregor because of that, or perhaps due to him finding the Irish MMA great to be irritating. 

Gaethje responded by explaining that McGregor is one of the biggest stars in the sport of mixed martial arts. "The Highlight" underscored that fighting someone like McGregor would do wonders for him from a financial perspective, boost his legendary status, and bring him miscellaneous benefits. 

That aside, Gaethje is currently being pursued by top 155-pound contenders like Arman Tsarukyan and Charles Oliveira for his undisputed UFC lightweight title. 

 

Watch Justin Gaethje discuss his desire to fight Conor McGregor and address his loss against Max Holloway below: 

"As I've stated hundreds of times publicly: I would love to punch Conor McGregor in the face."@Justin_Gaethje on the #UFC legend's return to the Octagon. pic.twitter.com/hYdNy6p1v6

— Jim Rome (@jimrome) June 26, 2026