‘I Deserve My Fight Date!’

Conor McGregor is getting louder and louder as the UFC continues to shy away from locking him into a new fight date.

Conor McGregor is once again calling on the UFC to give him a fight date.

McGregor has been waiting on the UFC to lock down a return for him since pulling out of UFC 303 with a broken toe. That was back in June, and we’re now nearing October. According to UFC CEO Dana White, the Mac will fight in early 2025. But we’ve heard that before … previously, it was expected that Conor would fight in December, until he mysteriously wasn’t any more.

Now the Mac is calling for a locked in date.

“Most tested athlete on the UFC roster x2,” he wrote in a new X (formerly Twitter) post. “I deserve my fight date!”

“Let’s launch a few of these in live play!” he wrote above a sparring video. “Come on guys, let’s go! FREE THE MAC!”

Unfortunately for McGregor, it looks like he’s getting slow-played by the UFC for some reason. Could Jake Paul be right? Is the UFC keeping McGregor locked up while they negotiate new broadcast deals worth billions? Or is this just the UFC refusing to fight a fighter that is looking to hit free agency?

“The Notorious” made it clear over the weekend that free agency was his current goal.

“I’m the highest generating fighter on planet earth right now,” he said at the Joshua vs. Dubois fight. “What happens after this as I’m a free agent, I’m not so sure.”

And according to UFC antitrust Judge Richard Boulware, the UFC has a history of disrupting fighters seeking free agency. Boulware quoted former UFC matchmaker Joe Silva’s testimony that stated they “always renegotiate before the last fight,” and plaintiff Jon Fitch saying, “They do that to everybody. ‘We’re going to hold your bout agreement until you sign your extension. We won’t allow you to become a free agent.’”

So long as McGregor is looking to test free agency instead of signing a new deal with the UFC, you can expect the promotion to delay his return as much as possible. With Conor pushing as hard as he is, that probably means February or March. Can he get his second and final fight done before 2025 ends?

It’s a real question given how slow things have gone thus far.