Things have felt a little strange around the UFC lately. Big cards are getting announced, but the reactions haven’t been as loud as they once were. The White House event generated a lot of buzz, but fans are still talking about who isn’t on the fight card more than who is. When that happens, you know the promotion is lacking something, or rather, someone.

That is why the talk about Conor McGregor’s return just won’t go away. Even when the schedule seems to be stacked, his name appears in the conversation. And now that Max Holloway has casually brought him up again, Ariel Helwani believes the timing couldn’t be clearer. In his opinion, the UFC doesn’t just want ‘The Notorious’ back right now. They need him.

Ariel Helwani claims the UFC needs Conor McGregor more than ever

Speaking on his show, Ariel Helwani stated that Conor McGregor is in the perfect spot right now. While the promotion tries to build big events without him, the buzz never quite feels the same, making his return even more valuable for the biggest MMA promotion in the world.

“The master of good timing, the beneficiary of the best timing in the history of the sport, is Conor McGregor,” Helwani said. “He is sitting there as everything is kind of… burning down.

“He’s sitting pretty right now, like, yep, of course you want me back.”

Helwani also stated that talks for Conor McGregor’s return have been going well behind the scenes, and it would take something ‘disastrous’ for him not to feature on the July 11 card during International Fight Week.

“They need this now more than ever,” he added. “They need Conor McGregor to be on this card. They need Conor to come back. They need the return of the Mac.

“They need the promo. They need the poster. They need the posts. They need the social. They need all of that. They need people talking. They need people getting excited.”

Part of the reason Helwani feels that way is because of what Max Holloway said recently. After his loss to Charles Oliveira, ‘Blessed’ discussed what could come next, and instead of claiming that he wants to go for a ranked contender, he brought up Conor McGregor. Not just once, but in a way that suggested he already had the idea in mind.

Max Holloway’s plans strengthen Helwani’s theory

Max Holloway casually mentioned fighting Conor McGregor as if it were already on his mind, and the timing of this has led Ariel Helwani to believe something bigger could be happening behind the scenes.

“I mean, Conor’s there,” Holloway said on his YouTube channel. “He got one over me. He’s talking about coming back. I’m coming off of a loss; I mean, it would look pretty fun to get that one back with him.

“I know a lot of people are worried about the weight and this and that, but if he doesn’t want to cut weight, then I don’t want to cut weight. We can do it at any weight, to be honest; it’s just about getting it back.”

For a man like ‘Blessed,’ who normally doesn’t throw names around without a reason, that felt more like a hint than a fantasy callout. Even Ariel Helwani stated that it felt like the kind of comment you would make if you knew there were already talks going on somewhere in the background.

“I think Max is trying to tell us something there,” he stated. “It feels to me like he’s trying to tell us, like, this is what I want, and I don’t think he’s talking if things aren’t happening behind the scenes.”

“And so that’s what I feel by reading all of this, but as I said, these talks are going well, and I think they’re going well because the UFC recognizes, ‘Hey, we need to make this happen.'”

And the situation surrounding the White House card only adds to that feeling. The card was announced with much fanfare, but the biggest reaction from fans was about who wasn’t on it. Conor McGregor’s absence stood out instantly, especially since he had spent months talking about wanting to be a part of that event.

According to Mauricio Ruffy, the offer may have even been made, but Conor McGregor declined.

“Conor McGregor talked about the possibility of a fight, opened up the possibility of fighting,” Ruffy said on the Overdogs Brazil podcast. “It was discussed, but he’s the one who makes the decisions, and he made the decision not to fight.

“I also didn’t have high expectations about it.”

And now, Ruffy will instead face Michael Chandler, who was supposed to face McGregor again in 2024 and had hoped to be re-booked against ‘The Notorious’ this year.

As for Conor McGregor, we all know the UFC wanted to save his return for their biggest show of the year. Like Ariel Helwani said, the promotion didn’t just want the former UFC double champion back; they wanted him back at the right moment, and that right time might finally be here.