LAS VEGAS — Conor McGregor will return to the octagon for the first time since 2021 to face Max Holloway on July 11 in Las Vegas. UFC president Dana White announced the matchup on Saturday.

McGregor has not fought since a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier on July 10, 2021, a bout in which he suffered a broken leg that required surgery. He was scheduled to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in July 2024 but pulled out less than three weeks before the bout due to a toe injury.

The July 11 bout will be a rematch. McGregor defeated Holloway via unanimous decision in 2013. Holloway, a former UFC featherweight champion, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira in March. He has beaten Justin Gaethje, José Aldo twice, Poirier and Frankie Edgar.

McGregor rose to fame after winning his first five fights in the UFC. He won the interim UFC featherweight title by defeating Chad Mendes in 2015, then knocked out José Aldo for the UFC featherweight belt in December 2015 in 13 seconds, the fastest finish in UFC title fight history. In November 2016, he stopped Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title, becoming the first fighter to hold UFC titles in two divisions simultaneously.

McGregor has lost three of his last four bouts, including one to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 and two consecutive losses to Poirier. He holds victories over Aldo, Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone, whom he beat in 2019.

McGregor headlined four of the top four pay-per-view events in UFC history, including 2.4 million buys for his bout against Nurmagomedov and 1.8 million buys for his bout against Poirier. His 2017 boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. generated 4.3 million pay-per-view buys and more than $600 million in total revenue, according to Showtime.

McGregor was arrested in 2018 in New York for throwing a metal dolly at the window of a bus carrying UFC fighters and staff. In 2019, he was convicted and fined €1,000 for punching a man who rejected his offer of a drink in a Dublin pub. In 2024, McGregor accepted an 18-month ban for violating the UFC's anti-doping policy after missing three drug tests within a 12-month period. Also in November 2024, a civil court ordered him to pay £206,000 in damages plus costs to Nikita Hand, who accused him of raping her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.