Jake Paul fight card upstaged as UFC makes Conor McGregor return announcement
Jake Paul fight card upstaged as UFC makes Conor McGregor return announcement
Ryan GerbosiSun, May 17, 2026 at 11:28 AM UTC
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Conor McGregor will be back in the cage this summer -Credit:Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images (Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Conor McGregor is officially set to make his comeback to the UFC octagon.
On the same evening that mixed martial arts legends Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano stepped back into the cage after lengthy absences for Jake Paul's MVP Promotions' inaugural fight card, the UFC confirmed the highly anticipated return of superstar McGregor for his first bout in five years.
The 37 year old Irish fighter will take on former featherweight champion Max Holloway in a welterweight matchup on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This marks the second encounter between the two inside the UFC, with their first meeting occurring early in both competitors' careers, where McGregor secured a decision victory despite sustaining an injury early in the contest.
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The UFC's timing for the announcement was significant for several reasons. Saturday marked the inaugural event for MVP MMA, a new division of Paul's promotional company that has staged multiple boxing events on Netflix in recent years, taking place at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
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UFC president Dana White opted against scheduling a major UFC card to compete with the event, expressing his admiration for Rousey and Carano. A UFC Fight Night card at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas proceeded as planned, with the announcement coming during that broadcast, reports the Irish Star.
At the same moment, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou was entering the cage at the Intuit Dome to face Philipe Lins when the fight received its public confirmation. Ngannou departed the UFC for the Professional Fighters League in 2023, while simultaneously launching a boxing career. He stepped into the ring against former heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, suffering defeats to both.
McGregor hasn't fought since 2021, when he fractured his leg after his ankle gave way during his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier. A comeback was anticipated in 2024 against Michael Chandler, but a broken toe scuppered their scheduled clash.
MVP MMA 1 was at least momentarily overshadowed by the McGregor announcement -Credit:Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
McGregor has been embroiled in multiple controversies in recent years, including a high-profile Dublin rape case in November 2024, which centered on an incident with a woman named Nikita Hand from December 2018.
Hand claimed that McGregor viciously assaulted and raped her in a Dublin hotel six years earlier, and after several weeks, the jury delivered their verdict and determined he was liable for sexual assault. McGregor was instructed to pay Hand approximately €250,000 in damages and shoulder her entire €1.5 million legal bill.
Back in March, Holloway indicated he was prepared to compete at "any weight", despite never having fought beyond 155 pounds, if it meant a showdown with McGregor, as he sought to rapidly recover from surrendering the symbolic 'BMF' belt to Charles Oliveira earlier that month.
"We can do it at any weight, to be honest. It's just about getting it back," Holloway said on his YouTube channel. "At the end of the day, that would be a fun fight. But we'll see what happens. We'll see what way the UFC wants to go and that's all we can do."
Source: “AOL Sports”
