In combat sports, Canelo Alvarez’s name remains powerful enough to draw a significant crowd. The Mexican boxing legend has faced every big name, and he’s still going strong at 36. However, Conor McGregor doesn’t necessarily agree with this assessment. The former UFC two-division champion firmly believes Alvarez’s stardom has diminished to a point where it would be easy for him to outsell the Boxer’s events.
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“How many views did the Canelo fight get?” Conor McGregor wrote on X. “How many in attendance? Gate? Man, I outdo ALL of these people in sales. Majorly. EVERY SINGLE ONE. With ease. Maybe even combined. I don’t even be trying.
“I was on the same time as the World Cup semi-final and still done all them numbers in that last bulls—t that I’ve to sit with for another few months before I return.”
Conor McGregor took direct shots at Canelo Alvarez’s most recent fight against Christian Mbilli, which took place on October 31, 2026, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Guadalajara-based fighter won the contest via unanimous decision to reclaim the WBC super-middleweight title. Despite a world title being on the line and one of boxing’s biggest names competing for it, the bout failed to generate much excitement among fans.
How many views did the canelo fight get? How many in attendance? Gate ? Man I outdo ALL of these people in sales. Majorly. EVERY SINGLE ONE. With ease. Maybe even combined. I don’t even be trying. I was on the same time as the World Cup semi final and still done all them Show more
Alvarez’s fight against Terence Crawford was promoted by major figures like Zuffa Boxing’s Dana White and SELA’s deep-pocketed financier Turki Alalshikh, which became one of the biggest events in boxing history, drawing an estimated 41.4 million viewers on Netflix.
The 36-year-old finally returned over a year after his loss to ‘Bud’ to face Mbilli for the WBC title. However, the buzz surrounding his comeback was nowhere near the same with many feeling Mbilli’s star power wasn’t close to that of Alvarez’s previous opponent, Crawford.
Even the Mexican fighter himself described Mbilli as “too simple” compared to some of his other high-profile opponents.
DAZN hasn’t released the numbers for Alvarez vs. Mbilli yet. However, judging by the fan interest surrounding Alvarez’s most recent boxing match, it seems unlikely that the event will come close to matching the numbers generated by his clash vs. Crawford.
Conor McGregor used that comparison to take another dig at Alvarez. The former UFC champion downplayed the boxer’s stardom, pointing out that Alvarez cannot sell an event solely on his own, whereas he can.
After five years away from competition, McGregor made his comeback against Max Holloway at UFC 329 on July 11. While it’s true that ‘Blessed’ has a fan base of his own, the majority of the intrigue surrounding the matchup came from the return of ‘The Notorious’.
The event ended up breaking the UFC’s record for its biggest gate by an estimated $26 million for the first time, even though McGregor’s return was ultimately spoiled by an ACL tear in the first round.
He generated those numbers while competing on the same night as the World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and Switzerland, not the semi-final.
This is not the first time Conor McGregor has taken a dig at Canelo Alvarez’s star power.
In 2024, when Alvarez reportedly demanded $200 million to fight David Benavidez, the Irishman trolled him on X, calling the Mexican a “cornflake” and claiming he couldn’t even generate 300,000 pay-per-view buys.
After taking another shot at Canelo Alvarez, the Dublin native vowed to demonstrate his star power once again by promising to break the record for his last fight in the UFC.
Conor McGregor vows to set a new record in his last UFC fight
Before fighting Max Holloway at UFC 329, Conor McGregor had two fights left on his contract. By fighting Holloway in July, the Irishman completed one of them, leaving one fight remaining on his current contract.
McGregor is currently going through ACL recovery after sustaining the injury in the first round against Holloway that forced the referee Mik Beltran to stop the bout in just 69 seconds.
That injury has pushed his comeback timeline to next year, as he needs time to fully recover. Yet, with his current UFC contract nearing its end, he still aims to break the record once again.
“I’m going to actually try to sell the fight for my next one,” Conor McGregor added in the same post. “My final fight. See what numbers I can generate. Keep outdoing my own records.”
By using the term “final fight,” McGregor was referring to his last bout under his current UFC contract, not announcing an imminent retirement. There’s always a chance that the promotion could re-sign him.
McGregor has faced questions about his longevity, his championship status, and every other criticism. But one thing everyone can agree on is that his star power can sell any event.
He holds the record for selling eight consecutive million-pay-per-view buys for the UFC, and nobody has come close to matching it. Plus, the Irishman became the only one to beat UFC White House in one key metric.
So, even now, McGregor can break the record, even if he is well past the glorious period of his career.