McGregor Calls His Next Fight "My Final Fight"

A UFC contract with one fight left would turn Conor McGregor's next appearance into his last for the promotion. On Sunday he gave that idea a name himself, calling his next bout his "final fight."

One fight left, by most accounts

McGregor is widely believed to have a single fight remaining on his UFC contract. That is a belief, not a confirmed term. If it holds, the next fight in the Octagon would close his run with the promotion.

Boxing stays open to him. There are still lucrative paydays there should he choose to pursue them.

Where his record stands

McGregor is 38. His last win came in 2020 against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Since then he has lost three straight, and in the last two he was hurt.

The most recent of those was the match-up with Max Holloway during this year's International Fight Week, where he went down with an injury.

His best stretch was in the mid-2010s. He held the featherweight and lightweight belts at the same time, the first fighter to do that in the UFC. He lost both for not defending them and chased a boxing payday against Floyd Mayweather Jr. instead.

The Sunday post

The comments came on social media. McGregor questioned what the latest Canelo Alvarez card drew in viewership. He asked about views, attendance and gate.

His own answer was that he beats all of those people in sales, and easily. He said he is not even trying, and that his last fight ran against a World Cup semi-final and still posted those numbers.

He also wrote that the last fight is something he has to sit with for another few months before he returns.

Then came the line about the future. In his words: "I'm going to actually try to sell the fight for my next one. My final fight."

He added that he wants to see what numbers he can generate and keep outdoing his own records. The post gives no figures for any of this, and he did not name an opponent, date or event.

Our View

Calling a fight "final" before it is booked may prove to be marketing talk rather than a retirement plan. The contract detail is the part that matters, since one remaining bout would leave its date and opponent as the open questions. An official announcement from McGregor's side or the UFC would settle which of the two this is.

Source: Cageside Press