In the words of the inimitable Lee Corso, when it comes to Conor
McGregor’s comeback, not so fast, my friend.
On Thursday, McGregor teased his return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, posting on
social media that there were “real exciting times again in the
UFC” and that he wanted to “get this show started.” Since then, UFC
CEO and President Dana White told Adam
Glyn on TikTok on Friday that this was not the case.
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With a very succinct answer, the leader of the UFC brass suggested
that McGregor was still going to be out of action for the
foreseeable future
“He’s not fighting any time soon,” White stated. “I haven’t talked
to him in a minute.”
McGregor was initially expected to compete at UFC 303 in June 2024
against Michael
Chandler after coaching against him on the 31st season of „The
Ultimate Fighter,“ only for an injury to eject him from the
pairing. Since then, Chandler moved on with a pair of fights
against Charles
Oliveira and Paddy
Pimblett.
The Irishman last competed in the Octagon in 2021, where he broke
his leg facing Dustin
Poirier in their rubber match. The pair of losses that year to
Poirier—as he was also knocked out by “The Diamond” months before
his leg snapped in their third fight—marked the first time that he
had ever suffered consecutive losses. “Notorious” made his name by
becoming a two-division champion in the featherweight and
lightweight divisions, notably surrendering both belts before
making a defense in either.
Since 2016, McGregor has only gotten his hand raised once in
professional combat sports competition. After giving up his
lightweight throne—one he earned by smashing Eddie
Alvarez at UFC 205—he went over to boxing to test his meddle
against Floyd
Mayweather Jr. McGregor ultimately lost in the 10th round,
marking his lone pro outing in the squared circle to date. In the
cage, he came back and faced bitter rival Khabib
Nurmagomedov, getting submitted in the fourth frame for his old
belt. The last time he won, he beat Donald
Cerrone down in 40 seconds atop UFC 246 in 2020.
Outside of the UFC, McGregor purchased a stake in the Bare Knuckle
Fighting Championship, where he has promoted the league with gusto
while appearing at many of its events as of late. The Irishman has
said publicly on multiple occasions that he wishes to compete
inside of its confines before he hangs up his gloves altogether. He
also floated that he was to box influencer KSI this summer, but
that fell through when they could not agree on a contract.