Ryan Gandra built entire MMA career during Conor McGregor’s absence, gets ‘unexpected’ call to share UFC 329 card

Ryan Gandra will share the UFC 329 card with Conor McGregor's long-awaited return, a surreal moment for a fighter who spent his entire early career building while the Irish superstar was sidelined. Gandra made his amateur MMA debut in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in October 2021, less than four months after McGregor fractured his leg at UFC 264. The Brazilian compiled an amateur record before turning professional and running a 9–1 mark highlighted by first-round knockouts under Dana White's Contender Series and in the UFC.

"While the guy was away, I was just some random athlete, coming from where I came from, building my story so I could end up fighting on the day of McGregor's return," Gandra told MMA Fighting. "Man, that's incredibly emotional. When I got the news, I said, 'This can't be real.' It was kind of unexpected, [fighting on] the day of the return of the legendary McGregor."

At UFC 329, Gandra faces Zach Reese, a middleweight with nine UFC fights on his resume. Gandra has already studied Reese extensively—he watched video of Reese's fight against Jose Medina in meticulous detail while preparing for his own UFC debut against Medina, which lasted just 41 seconds with a first-round knockout. Now facing a far more experienced opponent, Gandra acknowledged the step up. "He's tough. He's no joke," Gandra said of Reese. "I'm not going to underestimate him, but my style is only going to change if the fight starts going in a direction that's different from our strategy."

Despite fighting early in his career on a superstar-headlined card, Gandra harbors championship ambitions. "I'm hungry. I want that belt," he said, drawing inspiration from McGregor's mentality and his own family's sacrifice. "I don't have the luxury of taking easy fights. I want to climb, to test myself, to be among the ranked fighters."