One of the surprises of the night during UFC 329 on Saturday was WNBA and Indiana Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham serving as a guest ring girl for one of the fights.

Cunningham said it was her first-ever UFC event and she ended up being a guest ring girl during the co-main event between Paddy Pimblett and Benoit Saint-Denis.

No surprise, Cunningham had a blast.

“Went to my first live fight last night, which was so cool,” Cunningham told reporters on Sunday. “The whole experience overall was wonderful.”

Cunningham serving as a guest ring girl was not initially in the plans for her evening.

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She said it came together “literally like five minutes before” she went into the Octagon after she spoke with UFC president and CEO Dana White, who she has become friends with.

“Dana came over to say what’s up and I was like, ‘Hey, if you need a ring girl, let me know,’ and he’s like, ‘Alright, first round for the Paddy fight, that’s you,'” she revealed.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, hah,’ and he was like, ‘No, seriously,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, God,'” she said with a laugh. “It was so much fun, though. It was a great environment.”

“I love Sophie Cunningham,” White told the media after the event.

“We’ve created a relationship, and she was here tonight. When she walked in, she goes, “Oh, I want to walk around that.’ I said, ‘Then you’re gonna walk around it,'” White explained.

Ultimately, everything went off without a hitch. Cunningham absolutely crushed her guest role.

As if Cunningham serving as the ring girl wasn’t awesome enough, the WNBA star also re-enacted her viral pointing standoff with UFC fighter Max Holloway after the main event.

A disappointing finish to UFC 329

While Cunningham had a great night, one of the participants in the main event, UFC legend Conor McGregor, who was making his return to the Octagon after five years, did not.

McGregor suffered a knee injury that forced a stoppage of the fight against Holloway after a little over one minute, which amounted to one of the most disappointing turn of events at a UFC event in the company’s history.

MORE: Conor McGregor warm-up video should quiet pre-fight injury rumors

McGregor’s return had a ton of hype, as evidenced by the UFC breaking its gate record by pulling in $25 million, which was $3 million more than the previous record.

There are many out there who believe that McGregor was injured before the fight started and just didn’t tell anyone, but that has yet to be proven.

UFC 329 was full of surprises on Saturday night, from the disastrous Conor McGregor comeback to Paddy Pimblett blowing through Benoit Saint Denis in less than one minute.

But before Pimblett stole the show in the co-main event, it was WNBA fan favorite Sophie Cunningham who generating buzz and trending on social media.

Cunningham, who became a star thanks to her role as Caitlin Clark’s enforcer on the Indiana Fever, made an unexpected cameo as a UFC ring girl before the start of the co-main event. Cunningham walked around the Octagon to signal Round 1, and then dropped her viral finger point taunt.

MORE: Max Holloway, Sophie Cunningham recreate viral pointing memes after UFC 329

At the post-fight press conference, UFC boss Dana White explained how the Cunningham cameo came to fruition, saying it was a last-minute decision that was made on a whim “about eight minutes before she did it.”

Dana White says he hired Sophie Cunningham as the ring girl “about 8 mins before she did it” pic.twitter.com/CF4aRQ49LC

— Rosalina Lee (@YoitsRosie) July 12, 2026

“I love Sophie Cunningham,” White told the media.

“We’ve created a relationship, and she was here tonight. “When she walked in, she goes, “Oh, I want to walk around that.’ I said, ‘Then you’re gonna walk around it.'”

MORE: UFC 329 results – Conor McGregor return ends in seconds due to injury

It was as simple as that.

Cunningham was in Las Vegas ahead of the Fever’s Sunday night showdown with the A’ja Wilson and the Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena in primetime. Let’s hope that things go better for Cunningham and the Fever than they did for the UFC in the main event on Saturday night.

Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

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UFC 329 provided an exciting night of fights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, but the event came to an unfortunate end when Conor McGregor suffered a knee injury to prematurely end his highly anticipated comeback to the Octagon.

McGregor rushed Max Holloway seconds into the fight and threw a leaping kick, before coming up limp after an awkward landing. From there, the former two-division champ struggled to keep his footing and the fight was ultimately called off by referee Mike Beltran just over a minute into the bout.

The lackluster ending to the even led to conspiracy theories online, with many pointing out that McGregor may have been injured before stepping into the cage.

MORE: UFC 329 results – Conor McGregor return ends in seconds due to injury

A video of McGregor appearing to lose his footing while taking off his shoes before entering the Octagon sparked the theory, and the UFC answered by sharing their own video of McGregor’s pre-fight warm-up. In that video, McGregor is seens warming up by throwing kicks similar to what he opened up his bout against Holloway with, and showing no signs of having a compromised knee.

Conor McGregor’s warm-up moments before walking out at #UFC329. pic.twitter.com/tLfK01Jie3

— UFC (@ufc) July 12, 2026

Will that be enough to quiet the conspiracies? Probably not, despite video from the actual fight showing McGregor’s knee buckle from an awkward landing. It won’t be until an official diagnosis is confirmed that we will learn more about where everything went wrong.

For his part, McGregor has also denied any pre-existing injury in a statement on social media following the heartbreaking loss.

MORE: Did Conor McGregor knee injury happen before UFC 329?

“My head gasket is gone,” McGregor wrote on X. “Destroyed. I had no injury/injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere. I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.

“I was so sharp and so ready for this fight I cannot believe what has happened. The talk of me being off while walking in to the fight is nonsense. I was calm, ready, and confident. I am in shock what has taken place. The devil is literally staring at me right in front of my face here. I am not engaging. I will be at church tomorrow.”

As McGregor now prepares to recover from his latest leg injury, we’ll have to wait and see whether this is the last we have seen of the former two-division champion inside of the cage.

Holloway, meanwhile, will now have to decide whether he wants to wait for a potential McGregor trilogy fight in 2027, or whether he will make another run at UFC gold.

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MMA legend Conor McGregor is making his return to the Octagon in UFC 329 on Saturday night against Max Holloway and his impact is already being felt before the event begins.

UFC president and CEO Dana White was a guest on ESPN’s SportsCenter and revealed that UFC 329 has brought in the biggest gate in the company’s history.

The previous record was $22 million, which happened at UFC 306 at The Sphere. For UFC 329, the gate is $25 million.

“We’ll see how this fight plays out on Saturday, but the Conor McGregor effect is huge,” White revealed. “Our biggest gate ever was The Sphere, 22 million. This gate beat it at 25 million, so it’s the biggest gate in UFC history for his return. The city is buzzing.”

MORE: UFC 329 weigh-in results – Conor McGregor, Max Holloway official for welterweight showdown

When White announced the historic gate at a pre-fight press conference, McGregor made sure to thank fans for their support.

“Thank you to the fans. Thank you to our fans,” McGregor said.

The historic hype for UFC 329 comes as zero surprise.

McGregor is one of the all-time greats and one of the most popular fighters to ever step into the Octagon, so he’s a huge draw in and of himself.

But he also hasn’t fought in the UFC in five years, so that only adds to the anticipation for his rematch with Holloway, who McGregor defeated via unanimous decision in 2013.

MORE: UFC power rankings ahead of UFC 329 in Las Vegas

This won’t be the last time we see McGregor in the Octagon, as the 37-year-old will fight at least once more after Saturday night.

Conor McGregor’s illustrious UFC career

McGregor sports a 22-6 career record, although four of those losses have come in his last seven fights. He has lost each of his last two and three of his last four.

Prior to his run of losses over the last decade, McGregor, who is one of the greatest knockout artists in the sport’s history, was unstoppable, winning a whopping 15 matches in a row before Nate Diaz ended his streak in 2016.

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McGregor, who has faced no shortage of controversy outside of the Octagon, has held titles in two different weight classes, including featherweight and lightweight, and he was the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes at the same time.

When you talk about the true legends of the sport, McGregor is right up there with the best of them.

UFC 329 fight card

While McGregor-Holloway 2 is the most anticipated fight for UFC 329, there are a lot of intriguing bouts on the card.

Here’s the full UFC 329 fight card:

Main Card

Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway
Paddy Pimblett vs. Benoit Saint Denis
Cory Sandhagen vs. Mario Bautista
Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Brandon Royval
King Green vs. Terrance McKinney

Prelims Card

Cesar Almeida vs. Damian Pinas
Ryan Gandra vs. Zach Reese
Cody Garbrandt vs. Adrian Yanez
Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison

Early Prelims Card

Kai Kamaka vs. Luke Riley
Robert Whittaker vs. Nikita Krylov
Wang Cong vs. Tracy Cortez
Farid Basharat vs. John Garza
Cody Durden vs. Alessandro Costa

The UFC 329 early prelims and later prelims will begin at 5 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET, respectively, and the main card starts at 9 p.m. ET (fight card subject to change).

All fights will be broadcast on Paramount+.

Drake strongly believes that Conor McGregor will win his first professional MMA fight in almost five years, as the rap icon placed a massive $1 million bet on the Irishman to beat Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329.

“THE MAC IS BACK?!?!?? The proper twelve drinking, tailored suit wearing, Lambo Yacht riding man with the Dubai tan that once had both belts in both hands… Say less @stake,” Drake posted on Instagram.

Based on his screenshot, Drake will earn a $1.85 million profit if McGregor wins tomorrow. The five-time Grammy Award winner has made a habit of making seven-figure bets on high-profile sporting events such as the NBA Finals, World Cup, and the Super Bowl.

However, most of his bets have lost, which has given life to the infamous “Drake Curse.” McGregor’s last win in the Octagon was on January 18, 2020, against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. On the other hand, Holloway’s last victory was against Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 last July 20, 2025.

MORE: Conor McGregor accused of HGH, anabolic steroids use while outside drug testing pool

Conor McGregor downplays fitness concerns ahead of UFC 329 return

The last time we saw Conor McGregor in the Octagon was when he broke his leg during UFC 264 in the final seconds of round one, losing to Dustin Poirier in 2021. The injury was reminiscent of the leg break suffered by Anderson Silva, who hasn’t been the same fighter since.

However, “The Notorious” claims that the leg break turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him, so much so that he feels it has actually extended his professional MMA career.

“I am fully, fully healed. There is a titanium rod down the knee into the ankle, and it is solid. I’m Terminator now, that is my mindset, McGregor said in a Paramount+ interview.

“I always say an injury is not just a process of recovery, it is a process of discovery. You uncover a lot about yourself – about your frame, your body, your movements, your mechanics,” he added. “In actuality, everything happens for a reason. This allowed me to carry on with my career, and it will bring longevity to my career.”