Conor McGregor says next UFC fight will be his 'final fight', vows to outsell Canelo Alvarez

Conor McGregor says his next UFC appearance will be the last fight of his career. The former two-division UFC champion made the claim on X on Sunday, November 1, in a post questioning the commercial numbers of Canelo Alvarez's win over Christian Mbilli in Riyadh the night before, and promised to put everything into selling his farewell bout.

'My final fight'

McGregor started by asking about the viewership, attendance and gate for Alvarez's return to the ring. No official figures for the Riyadh card had been published at the time.

"How many views did the canelo fight get? How many in attendance? Gate? Man I outdo ALL of these people in sales. Majorly. EVERY SINGLE ONE. With ease. Maybe even combined. I don't even be trying," McGregor wrote.

He then turned to his own comeback, which ended in 69 seconds in July, and his plans for his next outing.

"I was on the same time as the World Cup semi final and still done all them numbers in that last bullshit that I've to sit with for another few months before I return," he wrote. "I'm going to actually try to sell the fight for my next one. My final fight. See what numbers I can generate. Keep outdoing my own records."

On Monday morning, November 2, McGregor quoted the same post again with a short video, keeping the talk going.

The road back from UFC 329

McGregor's first fight in five years, a rematch with Max Holloway at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on July 11, was stopped as a TKO due to injury at 1:09 of the first round after his right knee gave way on a jumping kick in the opening exchange. McGregor later said he had torn his ACL and meniscus, and he has since had surgery.

Weeks after the fight, McGregor was already pointing towards a farewell. "What was to be a generational beating is now to be reset," he wrote on Instagram in July. "IFW 2027 The Last Dance." International Fight Week usually takes place in Las Vegas in late June or July. UFC CEO Dana White said at the time that he expected McGregor to be out for about a year, according to MMA Junkie.

The Irishman, 38, has one fight left on his UFC contract. He is 22-7 in MMA and has lost three straight, with his last win coming against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020.

What is confirmed and what is not

What is confirmed:

• McGregor himself has called his next fight "my final fight".
• He has one bout left on his current UFC deal and is still recovering from knee surgery.

What is not:

• The UFC has not announced an opponent, date or venue for his return.
• A rematch with Holloway has been floated by McGregor in interviews, but nothing has been offered or booked.

McGregor has teased retirement before, and some outlets have questioned how final this "final fight" will prove to be. Yahoo Sports' Ryan Harkness wrote that the talk "sounds like just that: talk", aimed at selling the event to fans and to the UFC.

The Canelo backdrop

Alvarez reclaimed the WBC super middleweight title on Saturday, October 31, at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, beating Mbilli by unanimous decision with scores of 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110. McGregor's post came less than a day later. Neither Alvarez nor his team had responded publicly by Monday morning Moscow time.