Conor McGregor hasn’t fought in almost four years. The last time he stepped into the Octagon was way back in 2021, when the Irishman went head-to-head with Dustin Poirier in their trilogy bout at UFC 264. That night saw McGregor sustain a nasty leg break, allowing Poirier to steal a TKO victory. And as McGregor lay on the Octagon floor during the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, he famously let the crowd know “This is not over!”. Ironically, though, it now appears this might have been the last time we’ll ever see McGregor in a professional bout.
The years since then have been a nightmare for McGregor. Even the Irishman’s closest confidants would admit his personal life has turned into a complete mess. From repeated drug abuse allegations to a recent civil court case, it’s not been a pretty sight. This has caused serious damage to McGregor’s brand and public reputation, leaving the overarching feeling that even if McGregor is serious about fighting again, his life is too much of a trainwreck away from the Octagon for it to actually happen.
Post-2021, McGregor has built an impressive résumé of cancelled fights. Despite repeated attempts to make it happen, a highly anticipated fight against Michael Chandler was cancelled for the final time in 2024. A potential boxing crossover with Manny Pacquiao in Saudi Arabia was potentially on the cards for a while, too, but even that eventually failed to materialize. And now (most recently) a bizarre exhibition bout between the UFC fighter and social media influencer Logan Paul has reportedly been called off.
With the prospect of a Conor McGregor UFC return looking less likely as each year goes by, it was inevitable that his name would eventually get thrown into the influencer boxing world instead. The business model of pitting social media influencers against former fighters and has-beens looking for one last payday is unfortunately a profitable one, so when the news broke that an exhibition between McGregor vs Paul was potentially going to happen — set to take place in Mumbai, India and rake in $250million — it caught the internet’s attention. However, it didn’t take long for the spectacle to get shut down.
According to recent reports, McGregor vs. Paul is cancelled because of UFC boss Dana White. It’s no secret that White has an on-going feud with Logan’s brother Jake, which is allegedly why he stopped the exhibition from happening. And what many fans forget is that despite not fighting in the UFC for three-and-a-half years, McGregor is still under contract with the organization. Ultimately, this gives Dana White authority over who and where McGregor fights — and it’s led to the Irishman missing out on a potential $250million payday.
None of this is good news for fight fans looking to bet on McGregor using the sportsbooks listed on Gamble-USA. Even though there was a general sense of optimism that McGregor would make his long-awaited return to the fight game in 2025, it now looks as if McGregor won’t be fighting this year, despite the fact Dana White has repeatedly gone on record to say that McGregor will. At 36 years of age, McGregor is now long past his prime and appears to be something of a ticking time bomb based on the allegations surrounding his personal life. From this alone, it’s safe to conclude that a McGregor return in the near future is incredibly unlikely and can only happen if he’s able to regain his focus.
Rumours of a potential fight between Logan Paul and Conor McGregor caught fire last month when McGregor linked up with the Paul brothers to celebrate Donald Trump’s US election victory. The three of them were seated at the back of a bus surrounded by cameras, where McGregor claimed he would slap both of them if they were to ever get in the ring together. In the aftermath, Logan Paul watched the footage back and shared his thoughts on his:
“This is a statement that at one point would have made us feel fear. And now two YouTubers are laughing at this washed up, cracked out fighter who’s unhinged and there’s no truth in what he’s saying [...] He’s not working or doing anything except drugs.”
Logan Paul is notoriously a master marketer, so this is definitely an attempt on his camp’s side to rile up McGregor and get the fight back on track. But based on the recent reports surrounding McGregor’s UFC contract and Dana White’s underlying dislike for the Paul family, the odds of a McGregor vs. Logan Paul exhibition actually happening are extremely low.
Conor McGregor is at a sad career crossroads, that’s for sure.
He’s arguably been stuck at these crossroads ever since his 2018 loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, which even the most die-hard of McGregor fans will admit is the fight he never truly recovered from. Since then, it’s been a non-stop barrage of court cases, rumoured drug problems, and cancelled fights. Combine this with the fact that McGregor is only getting older and it begins to paint a clear picture: McGregor might never fight again.
For now at least, the McGregor and Logan Paul exhibition is highly unlikely. An official return to the UFC is even more unlikely. The most likely outcome is that McGregor will continue to enjoy his partying ways and lavish lifestyle outside of the UFC, with McGregor himself claiming he’s amassed over $650million from his fights and business ventures. With so much money to burn and constant court cases, it’s fair to conclude that McGregor’s hunger for a genuine fight return probably isn’t there anymore — which is why fans shouldn’t be holding out for a comeback.