Conor McGregor will be returning to the Octagon for the first time since 2021 when he rematches Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11th.
That’s according to 15-time MMA Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani, who is staking his reputation on a “Notorious” return for the International Fight Week event in Las Vegas.
“I was the first person to tell you that Conor was coming back. I was the first person to tell you that it’s gonna be Conor vs. Max,” Helwani said on the latest episode of his show. “I will never
get wrong fight bookings and matchups. If you don’t believe me, you’re going to be proven wrong.”
“As of right now, they’re on the goal line,” he added. “Something awful has to happen for this fight not to come to fruition on July 11. That is the plan. It’s not quite 100%, but it’s very close to 100%.”
Helwani had previously stated that the McGregor vs. Holloway fight would be announced at UFC 328, but that didn’t happen.
“There’s no deal done with Conor,” UFC CEO Dana White said following the event. “I was just saying I’m confident. I was confident last year, too, but I’m way more confident this year.”
Locking up that deal isn’t as simple as most. McGregor has stated that without pay-per-views, his current contract (which has two fights left on it) is effectively void. The UFC would have to work out a new way of paying the Irish sports star what he’s worth.
White said that part is figured out.
“There’s a formula to it,” he said. “McGregor’s going to do just fine. It’s based on, if you take the average of his pay-per-view buys, what they do, there’s an equation for that — we’ve done it with a lot more guys than just McGregor.”
As the biggest pay-per-view star in UFC history, White would have to pony up a whole lot of money … money that wasn’t made available for other promotional stars like Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey in the Paramount era. But as Ariel Helwani said — and we can confirm this through our sources — the plan is for McGregor to face Holloway in Las Vegas on July 11th. Anything less than that should be considered a massive disappointment.
