EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe clearest sign of the power Conor McGregor still possesses came Saturday night, when UFC CEO Dana White took to Instagram to announce the Irishman's return to the Octagon just as the main card of the first MMA event to broadcast live on Netflix from Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions was ramping up.It was an old trick using an old fighter -- suck the attention away from a competitor and back onto White's promotion."Yeah, that's cool, drop it during our event," Paul said. "That just shows how pressed they are."Pressed or not, social media was quickly abuzz about McGregor's return against Max Holloway on July 11 at UFC 329 in Las Vegas.That's part of McGregor's value despite the fact that he has won just a single UFC fight since a 2020 TKO of Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone -- and hasn't fought at all since 2021.Since then, he has been involved in various businesses -- from Irish whiskey to designer suits -- starred in a movie (the 2024 "Road House" remake), rode around on his yacht and partied on multiple continents.He also got arrested, got sued (fairly regularly) and got caught up in various controversies and antics from the serious to the ridiculous. He even briefly campaigned to be president of Ireland.He basically lived life like you might expect Conor McGregor would if he had too much time and money on his hands -- sometimes crass, sometimes cruel, almost always colorful.That, as much as his fighting skills, has always been part of his enduring appeal ... and periodic downfall.Lacking teams to fire up local fanbases, combat sports have always been reliant on personalities to reach the mainstream. McGregor was as big as the UFC ever had all while remaining capable of knocking out an all-time great with a single punch (just ask Jos Aldo).The wilder McGregor acted, the more famous he got and the more money he made, to the point that White said the fighter had over $100 million in combat earnings and ancillary businesses. Not bad for a former Dublin plumbing apprenticeship dropout.The thing with that much money is it saps the motivation. You might play basketball or golf or tennis. You don't play mixed martial arts, at least not to the level where you step into a cage with someone as perilous as Khabib Nurmagomedov.The fight game is merciless, but it is also addictive, so no one had ever truly believed McGregor was done. For all the spotlight-seeking and base capitalism, McGregor was a real fighter, a real athlete. His career strategy was just to do everything big and quick.If you are going to fight, take the biggest fight. If you are going to sell a fight, sell it in the most outlandish way possible, from news conference antics ("who the f--- is that guy?") to brawls outside the cage (attacking a bus with a rival on board).Whether they love you or hate you is irrelevant. The fight game is too dangerous for sentiment. Just cash the check.It took McGregor just 27 months to go from his UFC debut on a Fuel TV card in Stockholm to title fight Las Vegas headliner.His UFC 229 headliner against Nurmagomedov set the MMA record for pay-per-view sales at 2. 4 million in 2018. His novelty boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. the year prior delivered a reported 4.3 million PPVs despite little to no chance at actual victory.It's one reason White kept both an open line and a flicker of belief in McGregor's return, even through frustrating starts and stops. Proposals were made; deals were nearly done.Then nothing.Now McGregor gives the UFC a chance to springboard off an expected huge audience for the June 14 card at the White House, where the location alone should draw back some casual fans, along with new ones.McGregor, 37, has been inactive but is hardly old by fight standards. This isn't Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao 2, a late-40s reunion tour with little athletic value. It isn't even that MVP MMA card from Saturday featuring lopsided fights with aging vets.Holloway is 34, in his prime and well aware of what dusting McGregor would do for his future earnings. He's already a -395 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook.The spectacle -- part nostalgia, part McGregor promotional onslaught -- should draw eyeballs regardless. It's what the UFC needs. On a technical and competitive level, the sport is as good, if not better, than ever. The athletes keep evolving. In terms of mainstream attention in the United States, though, it lacks that widespread relevance.McGregor is back to give the promotion that.The South Lawn in June, a screaming Irishman in July. It's a UFC summer ... just like the old days.
