Conor McGregor Has Two Fights Left. After April 2027 He's a Free Agent. Everyone Is Waiting

Conor McGregor sat down with Ariel Helwani and casually revealed something that should have every promoter in combat sports reaching for their checkbook.

Two fights left. July 11 against Max Holloway at UFC 329. Then one more fight in April 2027. No opponent named yet. Just a date on a contract that the UFC apparently locked in without McGregor having much say in the timing.

"I am contracted and I have both dates," McGregor told Helwani. "I have July 11. When would you think they put me back in? April 2027. It's almost a year later! That's ridiculous to me."

After April 2027, Conor McGregor is a free agent. The biggest name in MMA history. On the open market. For the first time ever.

And the UFC didn't even try to extend him.

The UFC Didn't Try to Keep Him

Helwani asked McGregor directly. Did the UFC try to extend your contract beyond these two fights? McGregor's answer was one word.

"No."

When asked if that surprised him, McGregor paused and said he's "happy, to an extent." Then explained the deal.

"Was it what my worth is? Probably not. Was it what they wanted to offer, or what they offered? Definitely not. We met in the middle. I'm a fair operator. So that's how I operate. I love the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and I'd love to continue. Let's see how it goes."

That last line is the one that matters. "Let's see how it goes." Not "I'll be here forever." Not "the UFC is my home." Just "let's see." Thirteen days from his comeback fight. With the open market less than a year away.

Helwani said the two date contract structure is "unheard of" in the UFC. Normally the promotion renegotiates with its top stars during their current deal, adding fights and extending the timeline to prevent exactly this situation. They keep champions and draws locked up for years so free agency never becomes a real conversation.

With McGregor they apparently just said "here are your two dates" and moved on. Whether that's confidence that they'll re-sign him later or acceptance that he's leaving is the question nobody at the UFC is answering publicly.

McGregor Wants to Fight Sooner

McGregor made it clear he thinks the April 2027 timeline is absurd.

"You'd have to ask Ari why," he said, referencing UFC CEO Ari Emanuel. "I'm like, huh? Just give me the f***ing contract, it gets to that stage."

He wants December 2026. Wants to fight Holloway in July and then get right back in there before the year ends. "July, end of year. Boom. Let's go to a new deal." His frustration is obvious. The man came back from a five year layoff and now the UFC has him waiting another nine months between fights.

He also said he asked for Michael Chandler as the April 2027 opponent but added "I don't care who the opponent is." The specifics don't matter to him. The timeline does. He wants to fight, fulfill the contract, and get to the next chapter as fast as possible.

And the next chapter is where things get really interesting.

MVP Is Already Waiting

Nakisa Bidarian went on the Helwani Show weeks ago and said it out loud.

"If the day comes that Conor McGregor is a free agent, we will do everything in our power to work with him. That's to work with him to do his own events. That's to work with him to fight Jake Paul in boxing and MMA. That's to try to make Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz."

Every word of that was calculated. Bidarian didn't say "we'd be interested." He said "we will do everything in our power." That's a public commitment. From the co-founder of the promotion that just broke the all-time US MMA viewership record on Netflix and has been targeting McGregor since the night they outdrew the White House card.

The matchups Bidarian named are the three biggest possible fights for McGregor outside the UFC.

McGregor vs Jake Paul. Boxing and MMA. On Netflix. The two biggest names in combat sports crossover history fighting on the platform with 325 million subscribers. That's probably a $100 million event minimum.

McGregor vs Nate Diaz trilogy. The rivalry that defined a generation of MMA fans. Diaz is already on the MVP roster after the Perry fight. The trilogy has never happened because the UFC couldn't make the numbers work. MVP could.

McGregor doing "his own events." Bidarian specifically said that. Not just fighting on MVP cards. Running his own shows. Conor McGregor as a promoter-fighter on Netflix with MVP's infrastructure behind him. That's a different kind of free agency entirely.

The BKFC Option

People keep forgetting this detail. McGregor is a co-owner of BKFC.

He bought into the company in 2023. He's been involved in the business side since. Darren Till just debuted there. Perry is the face of the promotion. And McGregor fighting bare knuckle in a promotion he partially OWNS would generate numbers that BKFC has never seen.

A McGregor vs Perry bare knuckle fight. A McGregor vs Till bare knuckle fight. Or just McGregor showing up as the owner-fighter headlining his own cards. The BKFC angle doesn't get discussed enough because people assume McGregor will stay in MMA or go to boxing. But the man literally owns part of a combat sports promotion. The infrastructure is already there.

What the UFC Loses

Here's what people need to understand about McGregor leaving. It's not just about losing a fighter. It's about losing the only person in MMA who can sell a PPV to people who don't watch MMA.

McGregor's comeback is the biggest story in the sport right now and has been since he announced his return. UFC 329 tickets are approaching $2,000 for nosebleeds. The Paramount+ subscriptions that will be driven by July 11 alone are worth millions. The man generates more attention sleeping than most champions generate fighting.

If McGregor walks after April 2027 and signs with MVP, the UFC loses the one fighter who can compete with Netflix's algorithm for mainstream eyeballs. Ari Emanuel makes $67 million a year running a company that built its global brand on McGregor's back between 2015 and 2021. Letting that man walk without even TRYING to extend his contract is either supreme confidence or supreme arrogance.

The Clock Is Ticking

July 11, 2026. April 2027. Then the open market.

Thirteen days from now McGregor fights Holloway at UFC 329. If he wins, the demand for his next fight will be unlike anything the sport has seen since his comeback was first announced. The UFC will have nine months to negotiate a new deal before April 2027 rolls around. Nine months to convince the biggest name in combat sports history that staying is better than leaving.

And waiting on the other side of that negotiation is Bidarian with Netflix money, Paul with promotional infrastructure, Diaz with unfinished business, BKFC with an ownership stake, and Scott Coker with a $60 million promotion that hasn't even launched yet.

McGregor said it himself. "I love the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and I'd love to continue." But he also said the pay wasn't what his worth is. He also said the UFC didn't try to extend him. He also said he intends to "test out free agency" unless the offer is "unbelievable."

The clock is ticking. Two fights. Then the biggest free agent in combat sports history hits the market. And every promotion we've written about this year is standing at the door waiting for him to walk through it.

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