Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon is more uncertain than ever. UFC president Dana White explains when the biggest star in the history of the mixed martial arts organization could return
The long-awaited return of Conor McGregor to the UFC will not happen this year. UFC president Dana White spoke about the former two-division champion’s future following the season debut of “Dana White’s Contender Series” on Tuesday.
While he was optimistic that McGregor would fight for the promotion again, White made it clear that a fight against Michael Chandler won’t happen before the end of the year.
“We’ve talked and he wants to fight,” White said when asked when McGregor will return to the Octagon. “We’ll find out. Not this year. He’s not going to fight this year. “
McGregor reacts to White announcement
McGregor’s response was not long in coming. The 36-year-old published a post on X (formerly Twitter) in which he took issue with White delaying his return until at least 2025.
“Ah Dana, December is the right date,” he wrote. ”Let’s end the calendar year with a winning event! Come on, what’s that? I intend to start preparing next month. December! Tell Dana and UFC we want December! We deserve December!”
Conor McGregor hasn’t fought since 2021
Irishman McGregor is the biggest star in the history of the mixed martial arts organization. However, the 35-year-old has not fought since July 2021, when he broke his left leg in a fight against Dustin Poirier.
The return of arguably the biggest star in UFC history was scheduled for UFC 303 on June 29 against Chandler, but a broken toe forced McGregor to cancel the fight 16 days before the bout.
Since then, McGregor has been adamant that he will be back in action before the end of 2024. However, White had dismissed the idea of McGregor returning to the Octagon between August and October. With featherweight champion Ilia Topuria defending his title against Max Holloway on October 26 at UFC 308, the options for a fight between McGregor and Chandler rapidly diminished.
The former featherweight and lightweight champion’s athletic luster had already waned considerably: Since 2016, “The Notorious” has only fought four times in the UFC and also only achieved one victory. The blockbuster boxing match against Floyd Mayweather and numerous scandals involving McGregor’s off-stage behavior made bigger headlines during this time.
His 37-year-old opponent Chandler has also not been at the top of his game of late: he has lost three of his last four fights, most recently in November 2022, also against Poirier.
