Conor McGregor has one fight left on his UFC contract, and he could be eyeing another monster payday before he finally bids goodbye. Few would doubt that Dana White would write the Irishman an astronomical check for his final contractual bout in the Octagon. However, the former champion, Henry Cejudo, is demanding the UFC CEO make a move before ‘The Notorious’ grabs a bag full of money and runs off.

In a recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, ex-two-division champ Cejudo suggested that Dana White release Conor McGregor without paying him for the final fight on his UFC contract. 

“At this point, he’s just f—ing trolling,” Cejudo said on the Pound 4 Pound podcast. “I don’t believe anything that he’s saying, but he’s a draw, you know? Now it’s up to the UFC to say, ‘hey, we’re going to pay you this much because you’re worth this much.’ I guarantee, I’m going to tell you right now, I can even see the UFC just letting him go based on what he got paid… they could be like, ‘Hey, you know what?…. You’ve got one fight left, and we don’t think you’re worth that… you’re a free agent.’

“If I’m a businessman and I want to keep a lot of my money, and I like Conor. F–k Conor! I would cut him, and I swear to you…. I would, because if they’re going to give him 30 million and not have to give him 30 million, particularly with that big- a—s Paramount deal that they have. Paramount has to make their money; hey, just cut him…. let him be a free agent… let him make more money elsewhere, but let him not make money or take money from us.” 

Henry Cejudo’s suggestion stemmed from his conviction that McGregor has lost his financial value, and UFC would be making a mistake if they pay him another dime for his foreseeable return. Recently, ‘The Notorious’ confirmed that his next fight would be his last under the UFC contract, after which he would leave the promotion and join Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, a promotion he co-owns.

With the Irishman revealing his plans not to re-sign with the UFC, ‘Triple C’ pointed out that if McGregor left with another $30 million, the amount the promotion reportedly paid ‘The Notorious’ to fight Max Holloway, Dana White’s company would lose money. Because of this, he urged the UFC to “cut” McGregor before it burns through millions of dollars once again.

In fact, Cejudo further affirmed that UFC’s current business model under Paramount would suffer if they offer ‘The Notorious’ another fight under it.

“There’s no more pay-per-view model, and this dude hasn’t won a fight,” Cejudo added. “Just the business aspect of it, just hear me out. Pretend I’m Dana White, you know what I’m doing?… I’m saying he’s got one fight left; his last fight wasn’t even a fight; he lost again. Just let him leave with the loss in the UFC.”

Henry Cejudo’s stance toward the UFC cutting McGregor stems from two main reasons. First, he believes the Irishman lost star value after his comeback fight against Max Holloway ended abruptly in 69 seconds at UFC 329 that left many disappointed. Second, he argued that McGregor’s declining value would hurt the promotion financially if it paid him another massive amount of money. 

Indeed, the former two-division champion could be right in his assessment, but his claim remains an assumption. The promotion has not officially declared whether it lost money from the McGregor event. 

In fact, ‘The Notorious’ return to the Octagon after five years proved lucrative for the UFC, at least in gate revenue.

According to reports, UFC 329, headlined by the McGregor vs. Holloway rematch, pulled in over $26 million in gate revenue, the highest in the promotion’s history. Also, ‘The Notorious’ return card beat the UFC’s biggest show, UFC Freedom 250, in concurrent viewers on Paramount+.

Conor McGregor headlined UFC 329, drawing 8.3 million concurrent live streams on Paramount+, while UFC White House recorded 7.9 million concurrent streams on the same platform.

We don’t know how much the UFC has earned from Conor McGregor’s return fight on the Paramount+ stream since it dropped the PPV model in January 2026 after the Paramount+ era officially began. But it seems Dana White didn’t have a rough night financially by backing ‘The Notorious’ event. 

Previously, Henry Cejudo criticized McGregor for his dealings with his manager Ali Abdelaziz and Khabib Nurmagomedov. But this is the first time ‘Triple C’ has questioned the Dublin native’s financial value. 

However, Cejudo is not the only one to suggest the UFC risks losing money over paying McGregor’s fortunes.

In 2023, McGregor was livid when the UFC pushed his fight against Michael Chandler to 2024, and he shared his disdain with a post on X. Reflecting on that episode, Sean O’Malley suggested that the promotion could have postponed McGregor’s return because they were not sure paying ‘The Notorious’ that amount would be worth it. 

Despite sounding the alarm for the UFC to cut McGregor before he leaves the promotion, Henry Cejudo finally had to accept that the Irishman remains the biggest draw the promotion has ever seen. 

Henry Cejudo admits Conor McGregor made the names of his opponents 

Following his call for the UFC to axe Conor McGregor, Henry Cejudo went on to discuss the potential opponents ‘The Notorious’ could end up facing in his final fight under the promotion. At first, the former two-division champion claimed that the UFC could put McGregor against Justin Gaethje.

“He has one fight left,” Cejudo said. “Let’s say he does fight Justin Gaethje and somehow beats Gaethje, then the ball’s on his court… He can go off and fight a bunch of tomato cans and make a whole bunch of money elsewhere.”

Cejudo’s suggestion that McGregor can fight reigning lightweight champion Justin Gaethje comes from the Arizona native’s callout to the Irishman. But the bout is highly unlikely to happen because McGregor lost to Holloway in the welterweight division and won’t make lightweight.

Plus, Gaethje, as the undisputed champion, would defend his belt against the division’s top contenders. However, because of McGregor’s star power, Cejudo had to admit that the Irishman made names for his opponents by fighting them.

“He’s a cash cow…. I get it,” Cejudo admitted. “I get it, and that dude… I’m going to say it, he’s made everybody that has a f—ing name. From Khabib Nurmagomedov to Dustin Poirier to Nate Diaz, everybody that fought Conor and that was able to beat Conor, he changed their lives, let’s be real. Let’s be f–ing real.”

McGregor is currently recovering from the ACL injury he sustained against Max Holloway at UFC 329, which pushed the timeline of his comeback to next year. Amid the uncertainty, only time will reveal whether the UFC will pay him another massive amount or send him off with a modest purse.