UFC Newcomer Will Fight on Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway Card After UFC 329 Injury

UFC 329, headlined by the return of Conor McGregor, has reportedly added a new matchup at the start of fight week.

Scheduled to take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV following a rare off week for the UFC, UFC 329 will see McGregor return to the cage after a five-year absence to rematch Max Holloway in the night’s welterweight main event.

The card features a number of other major fights and several former UFC champions, although UFC 329 did take a hit last week when Ethyn Ewing was forced out of a scheduled fight with Farid Basharat due to injury.

UFC Signs John Garza to Fight Farid Basharat at UFC 329

The bantamweight matchup was one of the most highly-anticipated UFC 329 prelim fights for hardcore MMA fans, as Basharat was coming into the night with a perfect 15-0 record and Ewing had already defeated two unbeaten names in his two previous UFC outings.

Ethyn Ewing (blue gloves) fights Malcolm Wellmaker (red gloves) in the featherweight bout during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Finding a suitable and willing replacement to fight on such short notice was a big ask, but Marcel Dorff was the first to report that the UFC has signed John Garza to step in and make his promotional debut at UFC 329 against Basharat.

John Garza Gets Massive Opportunity for UFC 329 Debut

Following a successful 7-3 run as an amateur fighter, Garza turned pro in 2024 and secured a first-round submission before being stopped with strikes in his sophomore outing two months later.

“Mowgli” returned to the win column to close out the year before joining top Texas MMA promotion Fury FC in 2025. The 23-year-old secured his second unanimous decision victory in between stoppage-wins to go 3-0 on the year, and he extended his winning run to four fights when he scored another finish at Fury FC 114 in January.

Garza was scheduled to compete last month at Fury Challenger Series 16 before being rebooked for a title fight at Fury FC 123 in August, but now he gets the chance to make his UFC debut on one of the biggest fight cards of the entire year.

Farid Basharat Has Gone 6-0 Since Joining the UFC

Basharat also already kicked off his year in February when he took a split decision over Jean Matsumoto, which brought his professional MMA record to a perfect 15-0.

After earning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, Basharat made his formal UFC debut the following year and defeated Da’Mon Blackshear before he submitted Kleydson Rodrigues for what stands as the only finish of his UFC career thus far.

Farid Basharat (red gloves) reacts after the fight against Kleydson Rodrigues (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Arguably the biggest name on Basharat’s record since joining the UFC is longtime bantamweight staple Chris Gutierrez, who came into their matchup following back-to-back wins but dropped a unanimous decision to "Ferocious" and was released from his UFC contract earlier this year.

Chris Gutierrez (red gloves) fights Farid Basharat (blue gloves) during UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Garza stepping in to face Basharat, UFC 329 is now back at full capacity with 14 scheduled bouts as of the start of fight week.

UFC 329 Main Card

Main Event: Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2

Co-Main Event: Benoit Saint-Denis vs. Paddy Pimblett

Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista

Brandon Royval vs. Lone’er Kavanagh

King Green vs. Terrance McKinney

UFC 329 Preliminary Card

Robert Whittaker vs. Nikita Krylov

Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison

Cody Garbrandt vs. Adrian Yanez

Luke Riley vs. Kai Kamaka III

UFC 329 Early Preliminary Card

Tracy Cortez vs. Cong Wang

Damian Pinas vs. Cesar Almeida

Farid Basharat vs. John Garza

Ryan Gandra vs. Zach Reese

Alessandro Costa vs. Cody Durden

Add us as a preferred source on Google