Conor McGregor has two fights remaining on his UFC contract.
He plans to have those fights for the promotion where he gained global fame, but after that, according to his business partner and co-owner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, McGregor will fight for the promotion.
BKFC President and founder David Feldman told MMA Fighting, “Unless he’s the best salesman in the world, the talks that we’ve had it’s like ‘I’m fighting here,'” Feldman said. “I’m like, yeah, OK. He [said], ‘I’m fighting here.’
The impact McGregor’s presence could have on the sport of bare-knuckle and the BKFC promotion is almost immeasurable. McGregor is still the biggest combat sports name in the world, and that concept has been reinforced by the fan interest he and Michael Chandler generated with the talks of their long-awaited but as-yet-materialized fight.
“I go, ‘Why wouldn’t you fight here?’ Feldman said he asked McGregor. “Because you have equity in the company, and if you fight here, you’ll probably make more money than anywhere else in the world because of what it’s going to do for the company. So I truly believe what you said — I think 100 percent he fights here.”
McGregor more than likely won’t be involved to win a BKFC title. Instead, BKFC would more than likely look to grab a name from the boxing or MMA world to be McGregor’s opponent. If Nate Diaz is out of his UFC contract, he would make sense. It is very likely Tony Ferguson, who should be a free agent, would be down to scrap with McGregor–or anyone else.
Perhaps McGregor would lock horns with Mike Perry, whom he reportedly fired following the latter’s loss to Jake Paul in a boxing match earlier this year. I’ve long believed the biggest commercial fight that could be made–besides Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk–is Paul vs. McGregor.
It’s unclear if Paul’s contract with the PFL would prohibit him from competing in BKFC, but there is a chance he would maintain the flexibility to explore other kinds of opportunities in combat sports. Perhaps there is a chance for a mixed-rules fight, which might allow a co-promotional effort from BKFC, the Professional Fighters League, and Paul’s MVP group.
While the UFC hasn’t usually been open to allowing fighters to dabble in other combat sports beyond jiu-jitsu competitions, McGregor might be the guy to get the exception. After all, Dana White and the UFC co-promoted McGregor’s boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. Perhaps McGregor would re-sign with the UFC if he was allowed to pursue other options.
We’ll see if the UFC makes the offer and if it’s something McGregor would agree to if given the chance. As it is, 2025 could be a huge year for BKFC and bare knuckle on a whole.
