Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has declared his present UFC contract primarily void following the promotion’s landmark broadcast cope with Paramount, setting the stage for contract renegotiations in February 2026.
McGregor made the assertion throughout a Roblox livestream along with his son and content material creator Caylus on January 18, claiming the elimination of the pay-per-view mannequin has basically altered the phrases of his current settlement. The Irish fighter, who has not competed since July 2021, stays beneath contract for 2 further fights however argues the monetary construction underpinning that deal now not exists.
Conor McGregor Declares UFC Contract Void as Paramount Deal Ends PPV Period
“I’m going into negotiations with the UFC in February, and I’m very to go,” McGregor mentioned through the stream. “They really acquired a brand new cope with Paramount, which is value 7.7 billion {dollars}. So the corporate has 4x its revenue, and my contract primarily is void proper now as a result of there is no such thing as a extra pay-per-view, whereas my contract was based mostly on pay-per-view gross sales.”
McGregor referenced his standing because the promotion’s highest-grossing pay-per-view attraction to justify his place. The 37-year-old has headlined 5 of the highest six highest-selling UFC occasions in historical past, together with UFC 229 in opposition to Khabib Nurmagomedov, which generated 2.4 million buys and stays the most important pay-per-view in MMA historical past. McGregor reportedly earned roughly $50 million for that 2018 bout when PPV factors had been included.
The UFC introduced a seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights settlement with Paramount in August 2025, greater than doubling the worth of its earlier ESPN deal. The settlement, which begins in January 2026, shifts all UFC content material to Paramount Plus at no further price past a month-to-month subscription payment, ending the standard pay-per-view mannequin that has outlined the promotion since its inception.
Beneath the earlier ESPN association, which averaged between $500 million and $550 million yearly, followers paid $79.99 per numbered occasion on prime of an ESPN Plus subscription. The brand new Paramount deal gives a mean annual worth of $1.1 billion to the UFC, with 13 marquee numbered occasions and 30 Battle Nights streaming completely on the platform.
UFC CEO Dana White addressed the compensation shift in August 2025, confirming that fighter bonuses would enhance beneath the brand new deal however providing few specifics about how PPV factors would get replaced. “Bonuses are clearly going up,” White mentioned at a press convention following the Paramount announcement. “The low-hanging fruit that’s simple to reply? Bonuses are clearly going up. In order that will likely be huge.”
Whether or not the change in broadcast mannequin legally voids current contracts stays unclear. McGregor reportedly has two fights remaining on his present deal, although the affect of the Paramount settlement on contractual obligations has not been publicly detailed by the UFC or TKO Group.
Did Conor McGregor retire? McGregor’s Subsequent Battle
McGregor indicated he’s concentrating on the UFC’s deliberate White Home occasion on June 14, 2026, for his return. President Donald Trump introduced the occasion will coincide along with his eightieth birthday and the 250th anniversary of American independence, with plans for an outside card on the South Garden that includes a number of championship fights.
The previous champion accomplished an 18-month anti-doping suspension in March 2026 after lacking three whereabouts exams in 2024. Fight Sports activities Anti-Doping lowered the usual 24-month sanction to 18 months, backdating it to September 20, 2024, citing McGregor’s cooperation and the very fact he was recovering from damage on the time of the missed exams.
McGregor’s most up-to-date look got here at UFC 264 in July 2021, when he suffered a damaged leg in a second consecutive loss to Dustin Poirier. That occasion generated 1.8 million pay-per-view buys regardless of the end result, underscoring McGregor’s continued drawing energy.
The UFC launched its Paramount period on January 24, 2026, with UFC 324 at T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas. The deal represents the primary main media rights acquisition by Paramount following its merger with Skydance, accomplished in August 2025.
Neither the UFC nor McGregor’s representatives have commented publicly on the particular authorized standing of his contract or the February negotiations.
