Former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor has declared his present UFC contract successfully null and void, setting the stage for a contract renegotiation in February 2026 following a landmark broadcast cope with Paramount.
McGregor made the declare on Jan. 18 throughout a Roblox livestream along with his son, content material creator Keiras, arguing that the elimination of the pay-per-view mannequin basically modified the phrases of the prevailing contract. The Irish fighter, who has not competed since July 2021, has a contract for 2 extra fights, however claims the monetary construction to help that deal now not exists.
Conor McGregor declares Paramount contract invalidates UFC contract as PPV period ends
McGregor mentioned in the course of the broadcast: “I am planning on negotiating with the UFC in February and I am very curious about becoming a member of.” “They really signed a brand new contract with Paramount that is value $7.7 billion, so the corporate’s earnings have quadrupled. My contract was based mostly on pay-per-view gross sales, and now my contract is mainly void as a result of pay-per-view is gone.”
McGregor justified his place by noting that it’s the promotion’s highest-grossing pay-per-view attraction. The 37-year-old has headlined 5 of the highest six highest-grossing occasions in UFC historical past, together with his combat in opposition to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, which generated 2.4 million buys and stays the largest pay-per-view in MMA historical past. McGregor reportedly earned round $50 million for his 2018 combat, together with PPV factors.
The UFC introduced a seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights cope with Paramount in August 2025, greater than double the scale of its earlier ESPN deal. The deal, which begins in January 2026, will transfer all UFC content material to Paramount Plus at no extra price aside from the month-to-month subscription payment, ending the standard pay-per-view mannequin that has outlined the promotion since its inception.
Beneath ESPN’s earlier deal, followers paid $79.99 per numbered occasion on high of their ESPN Plus subscription, averaging between $500 million and $550 million a 12 months. The brand new Paramount deal supplies the UFC with a mean annual worth of $1.1 billion, with 13 marquee numbered occasions and 30 combat nights streamed solely on the platform.
UFC CEO Dana White talked about compensation modifications in August 2025, confirming that fighters’ bonuses would enhance beneath the brand new contract, however supplied little specificity on how PPV factors would get replaced. “Bonuses are positively going up,” White mentioned at a press convention after Paramount’s announcement. “A low-hanging fruit with a straightforward reply? The bonus clearly goes up. So it may be large.”
It stays unclear whether or not the change in broadcasting mannequin will legally invalidate current contracts. McGregor reportedly has two fights left on his present contract, however neither the UFC nor TKO Group have publicly launched any particulars relating to the affect of the Paramount deal on his contractual obligations.
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McGregor has indicated that he’s focusing on a return to the UFC’s scheduled June 14, 2026 occasion on the White Home. President Donald Trump has introduced that the occasion will coincide along with his eightieth birthday and the 250th anniversary of American independence, and he’s planning an outside card on the South Garden that can function a number of championship fights.
The previous champion accomplished an 18-month anti-doping suspension in March 2026 after lacking three whereabouts checks in 2024. Martial Arts Anti-Doping diminished the usual 24-month sanction to 18 months, backdated to September 20, 2024, citing McGregor’s cooperation and the truth that he was recovering from an damage on the time of his missed check.
McGregor’s most up-to-date look was at UFC 264 in July 2021, the place he misplaced his second consecutive combat to Dustin Poirier and suffered a damaged leg. The occasion generated 1.8 million pay-per-view purchases regardless of the result, highlighting McGregor’s continued capacity to draw crowds.
The UFC started its Paramount period on January 24, 2026, with UFC 324 at T-Cell Area in Las Vegas. The deal marks Paramount’s first main media rights acquisition following its merger with Skydance, which was accomplished in August 2025.
Neither the UFC nor McGregor’s representatives have publicly commented on his contract or the particular authorized standing of the February negotiations.
