Jake Paul Believes UFC Holding Conor McGregor Back to Strengthen Rights Deal

Jake Paul thinks the UFC is intentionally keeping Conor McGregor out of the Octagon to use him as a bargaining chip.

It’s been more than three years since we last saw the Irish megastar compete. Since then, there’s been a new rumor every other week regarding when he would make his long-awaited return to MMA’s biggest stage. After lobbying hard for a fight in late 2023 and early 2024, McGregor finally got his wish, booking a main event matchup with former Bellator champion Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29.

Unfortunately, the fight never came to fruition after McGregor opted to withdraw due to, of all things, a broken pinky toe. McGregor has since pushed for a rescheduled date in December, but so far, the UFC has appeared uninterested.

During a recent episode of his BS podcast, Jake Paul offered some insight into why the UFC may be dragging its feet on locking down a fight for McGregor, suggesting that it has everything to do with the promotion’s soon-to-be expired broadcast deal with ESPN.

“Conor has two fights left on his fight deal, but the UFC is trying to renew their rights deal.” Jake Paul stated during the discussion. “They license their content, which are the fights, to platforms. So they’re trying to renew their deal, and they’re negotiating with multiple people. But, let’s say they’re going with ESPN. They’re trying to renew the deal and get the most amount of money, a part of that negotiation is, ‘Hey, we have Conor McGregor for two more fights.

“But, if he were to fight now, that wouldn’t be part of the negotiation. ‘Oh we only have Conor for one fight’. So, that’s why Conor isn’t fighting now, and this is what they do to the fighters… Each contract is different, but you don’t want to win, because you’re locked in for more three more fights. They also have all these [contract] triggers… You’re owned across the board” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Is the UFC trying to keep Conor mcGregor Locked down?

McGregor has been very open about his UFC contract, confirming in prior interviews that he only has two fights left, and it would appear that ‘Mystic Mac’ is eager to get them out of the way so he can pursue ventures outside of the Octagon i.e. boxing or a fight under the BKFC banner, a promotion he now partially owns.

With McGregor headlining eight of the 10 highest-grossing pay-per-views in UFC history, he is an undeniable asset for the promotion and could very well be used to squeeze a few more dollars out of whoever the UFC signs with once its current ESPN deal expires at the end of 2025.

Unfortunately for McGregor, that means the promotion could try to keep him under contract and stall out his last two fights for as long as possible. Of course, the organization could opt to do an open-ended deal with McGregor, allowing him to partake in other interests outside of the Octagon while retaining his services, but we all saw how it went when Francis Ngannou tried to do it.