Conor McGregor has sparked fresh speculation regarding the twilight of his storied combat sports career, suggesting that his next trip to the Octagon or the squared circle may very well be his last.
The former two-division UFC champion took to social media over the weekend to voice his ongoing obsession with pay-per-view metrics, gate revenue, and global viewership. In a series of posts that quickly drew the attention of the combat sports world, McGregor openly questioned the commercial performance of a recent Canelo Alvarez fight card, using the moment to highlight his own unparalleled drawing power and to cryptically preview what he intends to do before hanging up his gloves for good.
“How many views did the Canelo fight get? How many in attendance? Gate?” McGregor wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The brash Irishman, who has long positioned himself as the undisputed king of combat sports pay-per-view commerce, did not mince words when comparing his own commercial footprint to that of boxing’s elite stars. McGregor suffered an unfortunate setback earlier this year during International Fight Week, where an injury forced a premature end to his ill-fated match-up with Max Holloway. Despite his recent inactivity and the lingering frustration of being forced to the sidelines, McGregor remains supremely confident in his ability to move tickets and television screens.
“Man I outdo ALL of these people in sales. Majorly. EVERY SINGLE ONE. With ease. Maybe even combined,” McGregor continued.
Emphasizing his historic drawing power, the 38-year-old superstar added that his financial success often comes without exerting maximum promotional effort. He even pointed back to past scheduling overlaps to underscore his dominance, noting that he once went head-to-head with a World Cup semi-final match and still managed to capture staggering television numbers. That particular performance, which he referred to as the “last bullshit” that he has had to sit through while recovering from his physical ailments, continues to sting as he counts down the months before he is medically cleared to make his highly anticipated return to active competition.
Looking ahead to that eventual comeback, McGregor dropped the major revelation that has set the mixed martial arts community abuzz. Rather than coasting through the final stretch of his career, the UFC’s most visible and polarizing ambassador plans to turn the promotional dial all the way up for one final performance.
“I’m going to actually try to sell the fight for my next one. My final fight. See what numbers I can generate. Keep outdoing my own records,” McGregor concluded.
Industry analysts and MMA observers widely believe that McGregor currently has just one fight remaining on his exclusive promotional contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Because of this contractual reality, his next scheduled appearance under the UFC banner could indeed mark the definitive end of his tenure with the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization. However, the door remains wide open for alternative ventures. Should the Irishman choose to pursue them, lucrative paydays in the professional boxing ring continue to beckon, offering him a potential avenue to secure massive financial windfalls outside the constraints of the UFC.
Yet, as McGregor contemplates his exit strategy, the stark realities of his recent athletic trajectory cannot be ignored. At 38 years of age, the former champion has not tasted victory inside the cage since his quick-fire knockout win over veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone back in January 2020. In the years since that triumph, McGregor has endured a difficult three-fight losing skid. The final two losses of that sequence were particularly devastating, marked not only by decisive defeats inside the Octagon but also by severe injuries that severely curtailed his activity and prolonged his absences from the sport.
This late-career crossroads stands in stark contrast to the historic heights McGregor achieved during the mid-2010s. It was during that golden era that the Dublin native authored an unparalleled run through the UFC ranks, captivating a global audience and forever altering the economic landscape of combat sports. With a ferocious left hand and an unmatched flair for psychological warfare, McGregor captured the imagination of fans worldwide as he climbed the promotional ladder.
His historic ascent reached its absolute zenith when he accomplished what no fighter had ever done before in the history of the organization: he claimed simultaneous championship gold in two different weight classes. By concurrently holding both the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles, McGregor cemented his status as a pioneer and a transcendent superstar.
Those titles, however, were eventually stripped from him by the promotion due to inactivity, as McGregor chose to step away from mixed martial arts to pursue a historic, cross-promotional boxing match against undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. That 2017 blockbuster event generated some of the highest pay-per-view buyrates in combat sports history, further solidifying McGregor’s financial status and proving his thesis about his unmatched ability to drive commercial interest.
Now, as the narrative shifts from his historic championship reigns to the closing chapter of his career, McGregor finds himself preparing for what could be a final curtain call. Whether that farewell performance takes place inside the UFC Octagon or under the bright lights of a boxing ring, the sport’s biggest box-office attraction has made it clear that he intends to leave nothing to chance when it comes to breaking records one last time.
