Say what you will about Conor McGregor, but at his peak, it’s tough to argue against him being one of the top fighters and one of the best promoters to ever compete in combat sports.
He manifested becoming the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history. He competed against Floyd Mayweather in one of the biggest boxing matches of all-time. McGregor also remains the single greatest draw in the UFC with the pay-per-view sales to back it up.
But McGregor admits now that splitting time between
being the best fighter he could be, along with maintaining his status as the most prolific salesman in the sport, took a toll on him.
“Listen, yes I’ve just come on board as a promoter and owner of the bare-knuckle, for what a year or so, but I’m doing it a long, long time,” McGregor said at the BKFC 82 post-fight press conference. “I came up through the school of the Fertitta empire and with Dana White at the helm and I was the protégé. I’ll tell you this and this is why we must really, really, really put our maximum respect and support behind our combatants in here because to fight as well as promote is the real deal. To promote on its own is easy and also coincidentally, to fight on its own is easy. People don’t really realize that. You get these fighters, they come up and no one cares about you. You’re rocking under the radar, no one asks you a question, you get to show up and have fun and do your thing and there’s no stress of the outside world and it’s perfect.
“Then when you rise, you’ve got to add this promotional element to it and both of them combined is incredibly draining. I wouldn’t be the first to tell you it almost broke me, and to be honest, maybe it did break me. As I went on and achieved massive success and global, otherworldly superstardom. It overcame me at times.”
McGregor cashed a nine-figure payday for his fight against Mayweather but transitioning to boxing and then back to MMA again arguably stunted what was arguably becoming one of the most prolific UFC careers of all time.
After returning from a nearly two-year long hiatus, McGregor fell to Khabib Nurmagomedov in what became the highest selling UFC pay-per-view of all time and his record since becoming a two-division champion sits at 1-3.
It’s impossible to say if the burden of fighting and superstardom played a part in McGregor’s struggles but that factor can’t be completely ignored.
But McGregor recognizing those issues gives him a new-found respect for the fighters who are following in his footsteps.
“To promote and fight at a high level deserves support and respect and that is what I’m here for,” McGregro said. “To ensure that is what happens. To promote on its own, it’s absolutely amazing. I put on a nice suit. I put on a nice watch. It’s what I love to do. But don’t get me wrong, I miss the fight game, and I’m excited about what’s ahead.”
While he’s been pushing BKFC at an exponential rate since becoming a co-owner, McGregor recently told MMA Fighting that he’s preparing for six months of seclusion to get totally focused on his plans to return to the UFC for the upcoming card at the White House in 2026.
Right now, McGregor has two fights left on his UFC contract and he’s spoken often about eventually crossing over to compete in a bare-knuckle fight.
That said, it’s tough to believe the UFC would just let McGregor go anywhere else without putting up fight and those talks might already be happening as the Irish superstar plots his return to action.
:I know Dave [Feldman] wants me in the bare-knuckle,” McGregor said about the BKFC president. “The UFC are concocting a new contract deal or whatever’s going to happen, I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll take it day-by-day but God is great, and I thank him everyday.”
