The trigger was Canelo Alvarez. After Alvarez beat Christian Mbilli by unanimous decision in Riyadh on Saturday to reclaim the WBC super middleweight title, McGregor took aim at the numbers behind the boxing star’s night. “How many views did the Canelo fight get? How many in attendance? Gate?” he wrote, before turning the comparison toward himself. “My final fight,” he posted. “Keep outdoing my own records.” His argument was that nobody draws the way he does, and that his send-off will prove it.
The reality behind the pitch is a difficult one. McGregor’s long-awaited return at UFC 329 on July 11, headlining International Fight Week at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Max Holloway, lasted 69 seconds. He tore the ACL in his right knee attempting a flying kick in the opening moments and was stopped by TKO, his third straight loss after the two defeats to Dustin Poirier, the second of which ended with a broken leg in 2021. He has not won a fight since beating Donald Cerrone in January 2020. McGregor underwent knee surgery in early August and has been rehabbing toward a return since, and his coach has insisted there was no pre-existing injury going into the Holloway fight.
The next bout is the last on his current UFC contract, and McGregor has previously targeted International Fight Week 2027 for his comeback. He has also made clear who he wants: Holloway, who called for a trilogy in the Octagon after their rematch and said he would discuss another fight once McGregor recovered. The two first met in 2013, when McGregor won a decision, and Holloway’s win in July completed a historic year for the former featherweight champion. No bout has been announced, and the UFC has not commented on McGregor’s latest post.
The commercial claim is classic McGregor, though not every detail of it holds up. His night with Holloway drew a huge gate, but MMA News noted that on the gate, Alvarez’s biggest night still sits well clear of McGregor’s. What McGregor does retain is unmatched attention: few fighters could lose in 69 seconds after a five-year layoff and still have the sport debating how big their next fight will be.
The “final fight” framing is also worth treating carefully. McGregor has announced retirements before, in 2016, 2019 and 2020, and returned each time. He has also previously spoken about competing in bare-knuckle boxing after his UFC career ends. For now, the plan is a rehabilitated knee, a farewell on his final UFC contracted fight, and, if he gets his wish, a third meeting with Max Holloway sometime next year. Whether his body allows it is the question that matters most.
