UFC Could Have Major Conor McGregor Problem After Max Holloway Fight

Conor McGregor is set to return to the Octagon on July 11 during International Fight Week at UFC 329 against Max Holloway following a nearly five-year layoff.

The fight will reportedly mark the second-to-last bout remaining on McGregor's current UFC contract and, according to MMA and boxing reporter Ariel Helwani, that could create a potentially difficult situation for the UFC and president Dana White.

There is little debate that McGregor remains the biggest draw in MMA. He is the only fighter in the sport's history to appear on Forbes' list of highest-paid athletes and, as of now, has reportedly declined to sign a contract extension with the UFC.

"This is a massive, massive deal for the UFC and for Paramount+ to get him back in the mix," Helwani said ahead of McGregor's UFC 329 return.

"Here's the big story. This is the big business story,” he added. “Conor comes back, they didn't sign him to an extension. They wanted to, he didn't want to… Conor has two fights left. He's got this one on July 11 and then presumably one first or second quarter of 2027. And then what happens?”

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Helwani went on to note that streaming platforms would likely pay "top dollar" in today's sports media market to land an event centered around McGregor.

"With the streaming world, with Netflix, with Amazon, all these people paying big top dollar for sports, could you imagine a Conor McGregor fight on the open market? What do you think Netflix would pay for that? They would pay a lot of money,” Helwani said.

"Let's see how he looks in this fight, let's see how he looks in that second fight, and let's see what kind of dollars he could command around this time next year."

This does not necessarily mean McGregor has no intention of re-signing with the UFC, but it does suggest he is keeping his options open. If he defeats Holloway, other promotions - potentially including streaming giants like Netflix and major boxing organizations - could aggressively pursue him, which would leave the UFC in quite the bind to put an offer on the table he wouldn’t be able to refuse.

McGregor has also expressed interest in returning to boxing following his high-profile bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. back in 2017 and could even consider competing in BKFC, the bare-knuckle promotion in which he is a part owner.

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 4:24 PM.