Tyler Durden 
Conor McGregor has a lot to figure out ahead of his eventual return fight.
The road to recovery is one the former two-division UFC champion has gotten quite familiar with. In his long-awaited comeback fight at UFC 329 in July, McGregor tore his ACL as soon as his rematch with Max Holloway began. It was McGregor’s second-to-last fight on his contract, extending his stay within the UFC longer than he anticipated.
On Wednesday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” McGregor’s longtime manager, Audie Attar, said he expects McGregor to enter free agency after he heals and fights out his deal.
“My instinct tells me [the UFC will] try to keep him. They want to have a great relationship with arguably one of the greatest of all time,” Attar told Uncrowned.
“If you look at what the UFC is doing, they’re going younger. If you look at the roster now, they’re really trying to go under 30. Contender Series guys, I think that’s where they’re going. … They’re trying to cut costs and increase profit, like a business should. If you’re looking at it from that perspective, and you say, ‘I could get this once a year, maybe once every two years, or I could go and sign this much young talent, and I put protocols that help develop the talent, that may be a safer investment.’
“For Conor, I don’t know if he wants to be limited,” Attar continued. “If he re-signs with the UFC, he can’t do BKFC. He can’t just go do a big boxing match. Well, he’s done it before, but it wouldn’t be as fluid as him just saying, ‘I’m doing BKFC next.’ It’s just more complicated because of the contractual relationship.”
Attar’s mention of McGregor and BKFC comes after the promotion’s latest event on Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland. McGregor attended, as he often does as a co-owner of the brand, and took the mic at the post-fight press conference to make several passionate comments. “The Notorious” has continued to tease his interest in bare-knuckle boxing, a theme he has pursued since partnering with BKFC in April 2024.
Obviously, plenty of patience will be required until another McGregor bout, but Attar envisions a final UFC fight for the 38-year-old happening in late 2027.
“I think he fights his last fight. I think it happens toward the end of next year. I don’t know who against,” Attar said. “If he wants Max [Holloway], then that’s what’s going to happen. But so much happens between now and then. The sport moves so fast sometimes. You can’t look that far out.”
McGregor’s latest loss was a deflating moment not only for the event it headlined but also for the sport as a whole. MMA’s biggest star hoped to attempt a somewhat unprecedented comeback, only to see it go up in smoke on the first strike he threw.
Attar said he was devastated for his client, having been by McGregor’s side since the early days of his UFC run. And despite McGregor’s reluctance to be locked into a long-term contract at this stage of his career, Attar doesn’t expect the UFC to throw him a wildly unfavorable matchup once the Irishman is healthy and ready to return.
“I think there’s a sense of gratitude from Dana [White] and Hunter [Campbell] for Conor and what he did for the company,” Attar said.
