Conor McGregor has one fight left on his current UFC contract, but according to one former champion the promotion would be better off just letting “Notorious” walk.
As it stands right now, McGregor won’t make his return to the Octagon until later next year. That’s because the UFC cash cow suffered a brutal knee injury against Max Holloway at UFC 329 this past July. McGregor had waited five years for his Octagon return and it all went up in complete flames. UFC banked a record-setting gate for the event,
but fight fans were massively disappointed to say the least.
With that in mind, UFC matchmakers may feel hesitant to book McGregor for another high-profile fight. Not just because he may injury himself for the third-fight in a row, but also because they have to pay him more than any other fighter to compete. “Notorious” is far and away the most highly compensated fighter in UFC history and any time he fights UFC has to fork over millions. The promotion certainly makes it back tenfold when the dust settles, but it’s still a big chuck of change to throw at an aging fighter well past his prime.
Earlier this week, former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo argued that UFC may be better off just releasing McGregor from his current contract and let him become a free agent. McGregor has already revealed his plans to test out bareknuckle boxing after his next UFC fight so the promotion would just be getting ahead of the inevitable, while saving a ton of money in the process.
That is, of course, if the promotion truly believes McGregor will walk away after his next UFC fight.
“Now it’s up to the UFC to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to pay you this much because you’re worth this much.’ I guarantee, I’m going to tell you right now, I can even see the UFC just letting him go based on what he got paid,” said Cejudo during a recent episode of his Pound 4 Pound podcast alongside fellow former UFC champion Kamaru Usman.
“They could be like, ‘Hey, you know what? You’ve got one fight left. We don’t think you’re worth that. You’re a free agent.’
“If I’m a businessman and I want to keep a lot of my money, and I like Conor, f— Conor. I would cut him. I swear to you I would, because if they’re going to give him $30 million and not have to give him $30 million, particularly with that big ass Paramount deal that they have and Paramount has to make their money, hey, just cut him. Let him be a free agent. Let him make more money elsewhere, but let him not make money or take money from us.
“There’s no more pay-per-view model, and this dude hasn’t won a fight. Just the business aspect of it.
“Pretend I’m Dana White, you know what I’m doing? I’m saying he’s got one fight left, his last fight wasn’t even a fight. He lost again. Just let him leave with the loss in the UFC. Let him start his own career.
“Let us not pay him what he’s worth, which is $30 million. I believe he got paid $30 million in this fight against [Max] Holloway. That’s what he used to generate. There’s no more pay-per-views.
“It’s not because, ‘Oh, Conor McGregor’s going to do this, give us more money.’ These contracts are already said and done.”
