Conor McGregor’s debut at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) now has a condition attached to it. The former UFC two-division champion is nearing his UFC exit, with only one fight remaining on his current contract with the promotion. Once ‘The Notorious’ completes the remainder of his tenure, he will become a free agent. McGregor has already indicated that he won’t re-sign with the UFC and plans to make his debut at BKFC, a company he partly owns. But despite the Dublin native’s future looking straightforward, BKFC president David Feldman believes McGregor needs to prove a point before making that move. 

“Obviously, he has to look good in this next fight,” Feldman told talkSPORT. “That’s a big key. If something crazy happened, like what happened in his last fight, then I don’t think a lot of people would be excited. But if he comes out there and has a good fight, a very good fight, win or lose doesn’t matter. Everybody’s going to be excited about Conor McGregor taking his gloves off.

“He knows it too. He has to have a good showing. He has to have a good showing for himself, right? If he doesn’t have a good showing for himself, he’s not going to want to do this. So there’s so much banking on this.” 

At first glance, Feldman’s comment may sound like he’s restricting McGregor’s move to BKFC. However, the Bare Knuckle FC president’s reasoning runs a layer deeper. Feldman’s condition that ‘The Notorious’ must look good in his next fight stems from the concern that fans might not be thrilled if McGregor’s final UFC outing ends in disappointment, much like his previous clash with Max Holloway at UFC 329.

McGregor remained highly animated toward Max Holloway in their long-awaited rematch, 13 years after their last fight. ‘The Notorious’ promised to deliver one of his vintage performances and insisted Holloway wouldn’t land a glove on him. Despite the skepticism behind his claims, fans remained hyped about McGregor’s return after he had spent five years away from competition.

However, to everyone’s utter dismay, the Dublin native’s return failed to live up to expectations. 

At UFC 329’s main event, McGregor tore his ACL just 69 seconds into the first round, forcing referee Mike Beltran to stop the fight, and left the arena without delivering what he had promised everyone. Indeed, a freak injury cannot be held against anyone in a fight. However, it’s equally true that fans would subject him to scrutiny whenever he returns to complete the final fight under his current UFC contract. 

Feldman’s entire point revolves around this point of contention. If McGregor suffers such a devastating fate once again in his last UFC fight, it’s almost evident that viewers of the sport wouldn’t be thrilled to see the Irishman competing without gloves.

Consequently, the 38-year-old’s debut won’t attract as many eyes as expected, and it would be a disappointing night for the promotion. 

Because of this, Feldman has set the condition that McGregor “has to look good” to maintain his relevance when he finally makes the switch. He also assured that a good fight would serve the purpose. Not even a win is necessary.  

In fact, Feldman’s stance is not new in this case. The BKFC president made an almost identical statement when McGregor initially teased his BKFC debut in September 2025 in an MMA Fighting interview.

“If he wins, if he looks good in that fight, he’s going to fight another fight,” Feldman said. “If that happens, then I would bet 100 percent he’ll fight for BKFC.”

At that time, Conor McGregor was rumored to fight on the UFC White House card, a plan that ultimately fizzled out. However, it shows that Feldman has always maintained the same stance when it comes to the Irishman’s involvement in BKFC.

Shortly after, David Feldman also clarified his thoughts on whether McGregor could make a comeback in the UFC before eventually making his way to BKFC. 

David Feldman advises Conor McGregor to focus on his last UFC fight  

Conor McGregor, as a part-owner of BKFC, attended the media scrum following the promotion’s latest event in Glasgow, Scotland. In pure ‘Notorious’ fashion, the Irishman called out Max Holloway for a trilogy and claimed he would recover from his ACL tear in three months.

‘The Notorious’ also revealed that he would begin preparations for his comeback after that, as he wants to settle the unfinished business against Holloway. Reflecting on this, David Feldman disclosed that McGregor is currently in top condition following the surgery, and he believes the Irishman would make a stellar comeback inside the Octagon.

“I know that he got the surgery done,” Feldman said in the same interview. “I know he got rehab done on the other knee too. His legs are almost in tip-top condition now. So I think he’s in great shape to make that comeback; he has to get through this fight first, and that’s a big undertaking for him.”

While it may be foresight, Conor McGregor will eventually step into the bare-knuckle world, where he could face opponents like Mike Perry and Darren Till. However, Feldman advised McGregor to focus on recovery, training, and performing in his next fight before the real discussions would finally begin.

“He has to get back in training, get himself zoned, get himself focused, and get ready for this big fight that he has as his last fight with the UFC,” Feldman added. “So once he does that, then the talks are going to really start about where, what makes sense, what opponent makes sense.”

That said, only time will tell what Conor McGregor’s future holds for his final UFC fight and his potential BKFC debut.