An Olympic gold medalist with just three pro fights is already shaking up the UFC, and he hasn’t even stepped into the octagon yet. The announcement during the UFC 327 broadcast revealed that Gable Steveson has officially signed with the organization and will make his debut at UFC 329. And as it seems, he has already started to build the hype surrounding his first fight event, dropping interesting hints about Conor McGregor’s return.

“Man, I feel amazing,” said Steveson in an interview with the UFC. “This is going to be the biggest debut on earth, and I’m ready. The butterflies, the jitters. It’s all part of the game, and I’m ready to take that big step to the UFC and do what I need to do.

Man, I think International Fight Week is going to be crazy. You know, maybe a crazy headliner that might come back that you guys might know, so who knows?”

Conor McGregor has been away from the Octagon for almost five years now, which is quite shocking for arguably one of the standout superstars like him. In his last bout, the Irishman fought Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021. However, following a leg break, McGregor lost and sidelined himself for recovery.

Three years later, ‘The Notorious’ was all set to make his comeback against Michael Chandler at UFC 303. Yet again, another complication, a toe injury, forced him to withdraw. Although he made quite a number of return teases, it’s 2026 now, and McGregor is yet to fight inside the octagon. However, since late 2025, the Irishman has heavily teased a comeback, through training videos and bold callouts, among other things.

Notably, just a few weeks ago, prominent MMA journalist Ariel Helwani linked McGregor to return at the International Fight Week UFC event. On July 11, UFC 329 will be part of IFW. And as Gable Steveson mentioned, “a headliner” might come back, who’s better than ‘The Notorious’? The first UFC double champion has had a total of seven main event bouts in his UFC career.

As seen before, the presence of a big name on the card has often benefited other fighters fighting on the same card. The presence of Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar on a UFC card helped bring more viewership to the event, which in turn benefited fighters on the undercard.

But of course, the leading MMA promotion has yet to make the official announcement. In that regard, even Steveson’s (3-0) debut opponent has not been revealed. Considering the Olympic gold medalist has only fought three MMA bouts, it will be interesting to see who the UFC sees fit for him.

Likewise, even McGregor’s potential opponent’s name has stayed in limbo. However, as per Helwani, the Irishman may face a former champion in a rematch on his return.

Ariel Helwani names Max Holloway as Conor McGregor’s potential opponent

As soon as Conor McGregor teased his return, a plethora of names came up in the discussion. Michael Chandler, Charles Oliveira, and Max Holloway, among others, all stated their interest in facing the Irishman. Initially, the UFC White House event on June 14 was speculated to be McGregor’s return, where he was linked to fight against Chandler.

However, the leading MMA promotion overlooked McGregor for the first-of-a-kind event. Instead, Chandler got booked against Mauricio Ruffy on the UFC White House card. Now, Ariel Helwani, who linked McGregor’s return to International Fight Week (IFW), claimed that Holloway may be the frontrunner to fight ‘The Notorious’.

“Max Holloway ain’t playing games. Frontrunner, Max Holloway, Conor McGregor, he is confirming it right then and there. There haven’t been any other rumors about his return, so I think the UFC recognizes that they have got the biggest star back…

Imagine thinking before the BMF title fight, the loser would end up fighting Conor. I think that maybe if Max had won, they would have done a BMF title fight. Perhaps this is an indication that they didn’t love the Charles fight. I think we are going to see on July 11.”

Notably, Holloway just lost his last bout against Oliveira. And after that, McGregor showed interest in fighting the Brazilian for the BMF title. Hence, despite Helwani’s assertion, Oliveira remains another option. On that note, who do you think McGregor will face on his return? Let us know in the comments below!