It was less than three days ago, while speaking on the Jim Rome Show, that Dana White confidently declared Conor McGregor would “fight this summer.” With the summer barely a month away, everyone expected an announcement to come immediately. Yesterday, after MMA journalist Ariel Helwani revealed that the UFC would make the official announcement “in the next 24 hours,” almost everyone thought the promotion would do it during the UFC 328 broadcast last night. But, sadly, it never came.
During the post-event press conference, when asked about a confirmation on Conor McGregor’s return, the UFC CEO failed to exude the same confidence that was evident barely three days ago. In fact, the update he shared made the comeback picture appear even more grim than before.
That response follows Conor McGregor’s mixed messages on social media. In February, while hinting that his comeback was close, he stated that he had been offered an opponent, had given his approval, and was now “waiting on my contract.”
But a few weeks later, he revealed he does not have a fight booked and is still waiting for the UFC to send him the contract.
Dana White says there is NO deal done with Conor McGregor
via @ufc pic.twitter.com/59e29bAqJg
— Dovy
(@DovySimuMMA) May 10, 2026
Notably, that update also arrived around the same time Dana White announced the much-discussed UFC White House card, an event many fans immediately linked to McGregor.
With McGregor’s name absent from the conversation, speculation surrounding his future only intensified. That uncertainty quickly caught the attention of fans and media alike.
“The UFC needs Conor McGregor now more than ever,” wrote Ariel Helwani. “And they have to do everything in their power to make his return happen. It appears everything is trending in the right direction.
“At this point, I think it’s safe to say that something disastrous would have had to happen if he were not fighting on July 11.”
Yet despite the speculation, Dana White and his team still sound non-committal about McGregor’s return.
Conor McGregor’s UFC return remains a waiting game despite renewed optimism
That was evident again during the UFC 328 post-fight presser, when a reporter shifted the conversation toward the financial implications surrounding his comeback.
“He’s talked about how his contract was super heavily based on pay-per-view,” they asked. “So like, he likes he’s one of these guys who could do a million pay-per-views fighting nobody, and then he’s done two plus four million against Floyd. “How do you structure a deal with someone like that under this new Paramount (deal)? Because it’s completely different from any other UFC fighter.”
For years, McGregor’s value to the UFC came from his unmatched pay-per-view numbers. With more than 13 million buys generated across his fights, he remained the promotion’s biggest commercial draw.
So in his response to the question, White downplayed those concerns.
“There’s a formula to it,” he said. “McGregor’s gonna do just fine.”
The UFC’s business model has shifted significantly over the last year. Kicked off by UFC 324 this January, the promotion’s seven-year Paramount deal, reportedly worth $1 billion, signaled a move toward a more subscription-based structure rather than the traditional PPV-heavy model.
With UFC 328 now concluded, the promotion is already heading toward its White House showdown after five marquee events.
That shift naturally raised a bigger question: how do you convince someone like McGregor to return if the old PPV money model no longer exists in the same way?
But the reporter continued pressing for clarity regarding how that formula actually works.
“Oh, based on if you take the average of his pay-per-view buys of what they do, there’s there’s there’s an equation for that that you can—I mean, we’ve done it with a lot more guys than just McGregor,” Dana White added.
Despite this, uncertainty surrounding McGregor’s return still hangs over the promotion.
White, however, refused to take the bait. In classic Dana White fashion, he brushed aside the concerns, saying, “Yeah. Don’t believe everything you hear.”
So fans can keep their fingers crossed for now. McGregor’s comeback still feels inevitable to many, but exactly when, and under what terms, remains the bigger mystery.
