‘Free The Mac!’
Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
Conor McGregor can’t wait to ‘get free’ ... from what, though?
Conor McGregor is posting cryptic things on his social media account again, suggesting that perhaps there’s a rift growing between him and the UFC.
This tends to happen whenever the UFC slow-plays McGregor’s return back into the cage, which they’ve been doing a lot lately. McGregor didn’t fight through the pandemic because the gate he draws is too much for the UFC to sacrifice. The promotion decided not to apply for a USADA exemption to allow Mac to fight in 2023, even though his injury certainly met the standards for ‘exceptional circumstances.’ They left him unbooked til halfway through 2024, and they may not rebook him til 2025.
Now “The Notorious” may be suggesting he’s looking to leave the UFC once his remaining two fights are done with.
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“When I get free,” the Irish sports star wrote on X (formerly Twitter) without context. On Instagram, he added a video of him working a heavybag with the hashtag #FreeTheMac. And finally, McGregor reposted the heavybag video tagging Bare Knuckle FC, the combat sports promotion he now owns a chunk of.
All this to say McGregor’s got options if he’s not satisfied with the way his relationship with the UFC is shaking out. And hey, if they step back from re-booking his fight with Michael Chandler for December, Conor has a very good reason to be unsatisfied. These are the last days of his prime that are being wasted away with all these delays, and no matter what you think of McGregor, the guy clearly wants to compete.
What’s stopping him? At this point it looks like a bunch of UFC business concerns: a multi-billion dollar broadcast negotiation that starts in 2025. A wildly expensive September Sphere card that’s struggling to sell tickets even without the shadow of a Conor McGregor fight in December. And the promotion’s desire to lock Mac up to a new multi-fight deal long before he’s ever allowed to touch free agency.
But it’s clear he can see freedom off in the distance, and the UFC may be shooting themselves in the foot by jerking him around on his return fight after so long away. McGregor has been more loyal to the UFC than they really deserve, and if they don’t deliver on the proposed December date, we expect we’ll see a whole lot more than just some vague Instagram posts about it.
