At UFC 329, most eyes will be on Conor McGregor to see how the Irishman performs after five years away from the sport. However, to make sure ‘The Notorious’ faces the toughest test possible against him, Max Holloway has enlisted the help of a former welterweight champion in preparation for their International Fight Week showdown next weekend.

The former featherweight champion has brought Jack Della Maddalena into his camp as part of his preparation for Conor McGregor. The Aussie traveled from his home country to Hawaii to join Holloway’s training camp, and ‘Blessed’ shared glimpses of their recent sparring session on his YouTube channel. In the clip, the two can be seen sparring in gear, exchanging a few friendly taps.

For Max Holloway, training with Della Maddalena could prove to be beneficial. That’s because, unlike his opponent, the 34-year-old has never fought at welterweight before, and who better to help him prepare for the power of a 170-pounder than the former welterweight champion himself. ‘JDM’ is widely regarded as one of the best boxers in the 170-pound division, so testing his power and skills against a true 170-pounder could make Holloway even more dangerous against ‘The Notorious.’ Also, apparently, that wasn’t the only sparring session JDM has had with ‘Blessed.’ 

As per the former 145 lbs and BMF champion’s social media clips, the Aussie has been part of Holloway’s camp for weeks. It’s only now that he has chosen to release clips from the session online. As such, the two likely had a lot of time to help the Hawaiian work on his game plan against McGregor. The latest clip also marked the end of their week-long session together.

“Last day. Sad, eh? Sad to go home, but it’s been a pretty good trip,” JDM said later in the clip. “Yeah, it’s been sick. Training vacation. It’s been awesome, mate. Yeah, I’ll definitely be back next year, I reckon. Bring the family. They’ll love it, I reckon.”

Well, it seems the former welterweight champion has developed a friendly relationship with Holloway. But that doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering the former featherweight champion picked Della Maddalena to beat Islam Makhachev at UFC 322 last year. Though the result didn’t go the Aussie’s way, it showed that Holloway genuinely rates ‘JDM’ as one of the best fighters in the 170-pound division. Still, the Australian isn’t the only welterweight to have trained with Holloway. Tyron Woodley famously worked with him back in 2019.

While Max Holloway has chosen to reveal his training partner, Conor McGregor has decided to keep his own preparations as much of a secret as he can. But there are a few details about his sparring partners that are known.

Conor McGregor’s training partners revealed ahead of the Max Holloway fight at UFC 329

To make things clear, Conor McGregor and Max Holloway both have their dedicated coaching staffs overseeing their preparations for the fight. So, the sparring partners serve as additional members of each camp to help sharpen them. We’ve already seen the Hawaiian bring a UFC star into his camp. McGregor, however, has remained more secretive on that front.

According to Uncrowned’s report from last month, Dublin’s Lee Hammond (6-1-0) has joined the former two-division champion’s camp for UFC 329 at SBG Ireland. For those who don’t know, Hammond has been part of McGregor’s camp for over a decade and most notably served as the Irishman’s sparring partner for his memorable clash against Chad Mendes at UFC 189. In fact, Hammond also featured as an assistant coach on The Ultimate Fighter Season 31 as part of Team McGregor against Team Chandler.

Following that, Eoin Sheridan (5-0-0) also makes an interesting addition to Conor McGregor’s sparring team. Sheridan, who also hails from Ireland, trains at SBG Ireland and recently defeated Chris Mixan at PFL Belfast. Well, the 6-foot-5 welterweight is a lanky fighter with an 81-inch reach, so he can definitely help prepare McGregor for long-range striking from Holloway.

Last but not least, fellow Irishman Darragh Kelly (9-1-0) stands out as one of the biggest names in the former two-division champion’s camp. Also training out of SBG Ireland, Kelly went 6-0 under the Bellator banner and carried a perfect 9-0 record before suffering his first professional loss to Jay Jay Wilson at PFL Belfast. Even so, he remains a valuable addition to McGregor’s preparations for Max Holloway.

With Max Holloway bringing in Jack Della Maddalena to sharpen his skills and Conor McGregor relying on his longtime teammates, we’ll soon find out which approach delivers the ultimate result come fight night on July 11.