Hopefully, Conor McGregor will return to the cage before the year is up, according to Dana White. Conor McGregor, the most famous MMA fighter, has not fought since breaking his leg during his trilogy match against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. After a protracted recovery period, McGregor will return to the ring against Michael Chandler later this year. Chandler was the opponent McGregor coached against on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter.
At the UFC Vegas 73 post-fight news conference, Dana White said that a formal announcement would be made at some point during the event’s broadcast. “That’s correct [there will be an announcement during the airing of The Ultimate Fighter],” White said. “There’s a fight. He has to get into the USADA pool first. He’s filling out the paperwork. I don’t know how soon that will be done or what’s going on, but that’s his business that he’s handling with USADA. But it’s all in motion.”
‘A big fight in Madison Square Garden in November, and then a big fight in December’ – Dana White
After leaving the organisation to recover from his leg injury, McGregor has not formally enrolled in USADA again. As a result, unless the UFC offers him a waiver, McGregor must remain in the pool for six months after re-enrolling before becoming eligible to participate. However, that does not appear to be happening since McGregor stated earlier this week that he was re-registering with USADA with plans to compete later in the year.
White acknowledged that appears to be the schedule the UFC is aiming for. If McGregor were to rejoin the pool in the next weeks, he would be available to fight in late November or December. “That’s what we’re shooting for,” White said. “Hopefully, we have a big fight in Madison Square Garden in November and then a big fight in December,” he added.
