Conor McGregor's Reebok deal has lapsed, leaving the Irish welterweight without apparel obligations for the first time since UFC signed its $70 million six-year exclusive in 2015. The timing matters: McGregor's August boxing match against Floyd Mayweather falls outside UFC's promotional control, which means outside UFC's Reebok enforcement.
McGregor fought three times under the Reebok uniform policy—UFC 194, UFC 196, UFC 205—where mandatory gear replaced individual sponsorships that once paid mid-tier fighters $50,000 to $100,000 per fight and McGregor north of $500,000. His personal Reebok term ran parallel but separate, structured as talent endorsement rather than fighter compliance. That deal expired. Reebok has not renewed. McGregor's management confirmed he is fielding offers.
The window is narrow but valuable. McGregor generated $600 million in pay-per-view revenue across his last three UFC fights, more than the next five lightweights combined. His Instagram following sits at 21 million, triple any active UFC roster member. Brands know he will wear their shorts into a boxing ring with 4 million to 5 million pay-per-view buys projected, the largest combat sports audience since Mayweather-Pacquiao pulled 4.6 million domestic buys in 2015. Fight week press conferences, weigh-ins, and embedded footage multiply impressions.
Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas have all taken preliminary meetings, according to two sponsorship brokers familiar with the outreach. The brands are sizing a one-fight deal versus a multi-year signing that would need to accommodate McGregor's UFC return, whenever that happens. UFC president Dana White said McGregor remains under fighter contract and will defend his lightweight title after the Mayweather bout. That means any long-term apparel partner would need to co-exist with Reebok in the Octagon while owning McGregor everywhere else—a structure Reebok spent six years paying to eliminate.
The cleaner play for a competing brand is to dress McGregor for this fight only, plant the logo in the largest combat sports audience in two years, then walk away before UFC re-enters the picture. Mayweather's trunks routinely carry $3 million to $5 million in sponsor patches per fight; McGregor's will be less cluttered but no less visible. One brand has already floated a $2 million offer for fight night gear only, per a person close to McGregor's team. Reebok could match. They haven't yet.
McGregor's previous sponsor relationships included Monster Energy, Betsafe, and Burger King before UFC's Reebok policy wiped individual deals off fighter shorts. His whiskey brand, Proper No. Twelve, launched in September and moved 200,000 cases in the first month, suggesting his endorsement conversion rate remains high even outside the Octagon. An apparel brand wins twice: McGregor in boxing trunks this summer, McGregor in street clothes selling the whiskey year-round.
Reebok's silence is the signal. The brand has not issued a statement on McGregor's status and declined to comment when reached. Under Armour signed Anthony Joshua to a multi-year boxing deal in 2016 worth a reported $2 million annually; McGregor's one-fight value may already exceed that. Nike dressed Manny Pacquiao for Mayweather I and absorbed the loss when Pacquiao took $120 million and no title.
McGregor's next apparel appearance will be at the July world tour press conferences in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, and London. Those are the meetings being bid on now.
The takeaway
McGregor's lapsed Reebok deal opens a **$2 million+** fight night bidding war with Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas circling the Mayweather bout.
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