With Conor McGregor out for another year following his disastrous UFC 329 return, fans may never get to see the Irishman compete again. McGregor suffered a serious knee injury just 69 seconds into his rematch with Max Holloway.
McGregor has since undergone surgery to repair a torn meniscus and ACL. He has also continued sharing updates on social media as he clings to hopes of completing the final fight on his current UFC contract, potentially against Holloway.
While the former two-division champion wants to go out on his shield and give fans one last taste of what he can do, Eddie Alvarez believes that may be wishful thinking. The former UFC lightweight champion has urged McGregor to accept that his body simply cannot do what it once could when he was 25 and in his physical prime.
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Speaking to MMA Junkie, Alvarez said, “It just looked like it was over. Your body will let you know before your brain does. Your body will let you know, ‘Hey man, you’re not this 20-year-old kid anymore. You’ve got to pack it in.’ But deep down in your heart, we’re fighters, and you’re always like, ‘I can compete and beat this guy.’”
He added, “That injury at 20 is dangerous to have. That injury at mid-30s for Conor is even more dangerous.”
With McGregor having just one fight remaining on his UFC deal, “The Underground King” also doesn’t think getting out of the promotion will be as simple as the Irishman might hope.
He explained, “I think that’s the idea (to fight out his contract). But No. 1, he’s UFC’s biggest bargaining chip. Do they really just go down without a fight and just give him a fight and say, ‘Go.’ I’ve been there with Bellator. I got sued before they let me leave.”
Alvarez believes McGregor could become the UFC’s worst enemy if fighting out his contract becomes the primary goal. According to the former champion, promotions can become difficult to deal with once a fighter makes it clear that they want out.
He said, “Are they going to agree upon a matchup? Because at this point, if you say you want to leave the company, you are public enemy No. 1. So our whole goal is to get you beat in such a way that you have no value outside this company. Are they going to agree on a matchup?”
Alvarez also questioned whether the UFC would simply let its biggest star walk away without first securing the matchup it believes makes the most sense. That could create a problem if the promotion’s preferred opponent isn’t someone McGregor wants to face at this stage of his career.
He said, “The matchups they’re going to give him, he’s not going to want. He’s not going to want them. Is the UFC going to say, ‘Let’s get rid of our $100 million man and let him go on his way?’”
Drawing from his own experience, Alvarez concluded that promotions can become hostile when a fighter signals that he wants to leave and no longer plans to follow the company’s vision. “The Underground King” experienced that firsthand when Bellator took legal action against him after he moved to the UFC in 2014 without fighting Michael Chandler for a third time for the 155-pound title.
The stress of that departure was worth it in the end, though, as Alvarez went on to capture the UFC lightweight title two years later. He eventually lost the belt in his first defense to McGregor at UFC 205, when the UFC made its debut at Madison Square Garden.
At this point, McGregor would probably love to compete in BKFC, a company he is a part-owner of. Whether the UFC will let him walk away without taking a vicious beating on the way out the door remains to be seen.
Kshitiz Kumar Singh is a UFC Writer at NY Fights with over three years of experience in sports journalism and content creation. Known for his sharp storytelling and passion for combat sports, he has written in-depth features on stars like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, and Ilia Topuria. Before joining NY Fights, Kshitiz worked as a UFC Editor at EssentiallySports while currently serving as a WWE Editor at FirstSportz. His admiration for legends like Georges St-Pierre continues to inspire his detailed and engaging MMA coverage. Whether he’s covering the Octagon or the squared circle, Kshitiz is committed to delivering accurate, high-quality content. Outside the world of sports, he’s a dedicated cinephile, often found practicing monologues from his favorite Al Pacino films, combining his love for cinema with storytelling.
