Conor McGregor is seeking a rematch of his recent loss to Max Holloway in what would be the final bout of his UFC deal.
In an Instagram post Monday that references the UFC’s International Fight Week next July, McGregor wrote, “What was to be a generational beating is now to be reset. IFW 2027. The Last Dance.”
Should McGregor fight Holloway again, it would be the pair’s third matchup.
In a welterweight fight at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on 11 July, Holloway (28-9) won by technical knockout in just 69 seconds after McGregor (22-7) hurt his right knee on an early kick.
The two fighters also squared off in August 2013, when McGregor won by unanimous decision.
McGregor, a 38-year-old Irishman, is due to have his torn anterior cruciate ligament surgically repaired, which likely explains the long wait for the rematch.
Even though McGregor recently posted an Instagram video showing him going through leg exercises, UFC president Dana White said Sunday of McGregor, “Conor McGregor’s out for a year.“
The 11 July fight was McGregor’s first action in the octagon in five years, since breaking his left leg in a 2021 defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in Las Vegas. McGregor has lost each of his past three bouts and four of the past five.
McGregor had been the UFC’s most marketable star before that injury, in 2016 becoming the first to hold two titles simultaneously at different weights. He reportedly earned more than $100m after losing a boxing superfight against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2017.
McGregor was also embroiled in multiple lawsuits during his time away from the octagon, and became aligned with hard-right figures during an aborted run for the Irish presidency.
Holloway, a 34-year-old Honolulu native, dropped a unanimous decision to Charles Oliveira at UFC 326 in March in Las Vegas before bouncing back to defeat McGregor.
