Conor McGregor confirms next UFC fight after Max Holloway comeback as Paddy Pimblett call-out is made

Conor McGregor appeared to confirm when his next UFC fight will be following his comeback bout against Max Holloway.

Having not fought since suffering a second successive loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021, McGregor, a former two-weight UFC champion, will finally make his long-awaited return to the Octagon when he faces Holloway at UFC 329 on July 12.

The Irishman previously fought the Hawaiian in 2013, winning by unanimous decision. As expected, 'Notorious' has wasted no time in promoting his comeback fight, taking part in a televised interview with Holloway and commentator Joe Rogan during the recent UFC Freedom 250 card, which took place at the White House on June 14.

An animated McGregor claimed Holloway would not "lay a glove" on him before adding: "And even if you do lay a glove on me, I'm going to laugh in your face.

"It's another world here against me and it's another world at this weight [welterweight]... I'm going to come out of this bout unscathed and in all glory."

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On Tuesday (June 16), McGregor took part in media engagements once again, this time appearing in an in-studio interview with Ariel Helwani.

The pair discussed an array of topics, with McGregor appearing to reveal his next fight date.

The Irishman confirmed he has two fights remaining on his UFC deal while also suggesting the promotion has not yet attempted to extend his current contract.

"I'm happy to an extent," McGregor said. "There's a lot more there. I hope it's with the UFC. I hope we come to something. I hope I get honoured even more. I hope I'm going to prove even more so what I'm about. It wasn't that difficult. We met in the middle. We got a good, juicy one. Was it what I'm worth? Probably not. I'm a fair operator... I love the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and I'd love to continue."

He then claimed that a fight in April 2027 has been locked in.

McGregor added: "I am contracted and I have both dates. I have both dates for my fights. April 2027. It's locked in. It's almost a year later. That's ridiculous to me. This is the way the contract was done... I'm like, huh? Just give me the f***ing contract, it gets to that stage. Bring it on, baby. The Mac is back and I'm going to put on a show here in this fight."

Pimblett teases McGregor showdown

This came just hours after lightweight contender Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett appeared to call McGregor out during an interview with Sky Sports, with the Scouser set to face Benoît Saint-Denis on the undercard of McGregor's return.

"I get offered fights and I accept them," Pimblett told Sky Sports. "When I beat BSD [Benoît Saint-Denis], if the UFC want me to fight [Ilia] Topuria, I'll fight Topuria.

"I'd love to get that rematch against Gaethje and win the belt. A lot of things happened in that fight that the referee should have done something about, but he never did.

"Or if not, I've heard McGregor's only got one fight left on his contract after this. I'd love to fight Conor before the end of the year."

Pimblett has won seven of his eight UFC bouts, losing only to UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje.