<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
After months of skepticism over Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon, UFC president Dana White may have proven the skeptics wrong with his Instagram Story on Friday.
On March 19, the former two-division champion told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi: “We received confirmation a few days ago. All systems go and Notorious will return to the UFC octagon this summer.
McGregor’s claim came after nearly a year of teasing his return as his hiatus approaches the three-year mark in July. As fans looked at McGregor’s announcement with a raised eyebrow, White hinted that there may be some truth to his feelings.
On Friday morning, White posted a video of McGregor to his Instagram Story and wrote “coming soon” above the clip.
Prior to White’s story, McGregor’s supposed opponent Michael Chandler also confirmed a fight deal in March.
UFC president Dana White posted a video of Conor McGregor and wrote ‘coming soon’
White has yet to make an official announcement despite McGregor ‘confirming’ his comeback fight
The Irishman has been campaigning for a fight in the UFC since recovering from a fractured tibia.
“I have the official announcement,” Chandler told TMZ. “This will happen this summer.”
“The official status is that we have an agreement; we will be fighting this summer,” he added. ‘We’ll let the court of public opinion speculate on what the date is, but it will definitely be this summer. “We are giving them a window in which we are going to fight.”
McGregor has not fought since breaking his tibia in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. After recovering from his injury, McGregor began campaigning for a return fight while taking time off to work on other projects.
During a press tour for the 2024 remake of ‘Roadhouse’, in which McGregor stars alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, the Irishman expressed frustration at having difficulty booking his return.
In 2023, McGregor and Chandler were named opposing coaches on a season of The Ultimate Fighter, ostensibly to show off the lightweight clash. However, the fight has yet to materialize almost a year after the reality show aired.
McGregor suffered the horrific injury in his second knockout loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021.
McGregor’s return fight against Michael Chandler has been teased but has yet to be announced.
In 2023, McGregor and Chandler trained opposite each other on The Ultimate Fighter.
On New Year’s Eve, McGregor announced he would fight Chandler at 185 pounds to headline International Fight Week in July with a video on social media. Despite McGregor’s various announcements, White or the UFC did not release anything related to his return until Friday.
Chandler is the No. 6 lightweight in the UFC and lost to Poirier via submission in his last appearance in 2022. Rather than avenge his loss to another ranked lightweight and possibly compete for a title, the former Bellator champion opted to bide his time. to organize McGregor’s comeback party.
Iron Mike has a 23-8 record in MMA and is 2-3 since joining the UFC in 2021 with knockouts over Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson.
On the other hand, McGregor has a 22-6 record in MMA. The Notorious hopes to turn the tide from back-to-back knockout losses to Poirier and a layoff that saw him fall from the rankings.