Conor McGregor formally — sure, formally, this isn’t hypothesis — has a locked-in date and opponent for his return to the UFC octagon after an absence of almost three years.
UFC president Dana White stated late Saturday evening {that a} deal had been reached for McGregor to combat Michael Chandler on June 29 in Las Vegas. That’s throughout Worldwide Struggle Week in Las Vegas, the place UFC sometimes tries to construct one among its finest playing cards of the 12 months.
BREAKING 🚨@MAKHACHEVMMA vs @DustinPoirier – #UFC302@SStricklandMMA vs @BorrachinhaMMA – #UFC302 @TheNotoriousMMA vs @MikeChandlerMMA – #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/oGbgtoyHho
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
White leaned ahead in his chair and flashed a smile earlier than he introduced the bout throughout his information convention following UFC 300. “June 29, Conor versus Chandler,” he stated. “5 rounds, 170 kilos.”
McGregor’s subsequent combat has been a topic of a lot hypothesis all through the blended martial arts world ever since he broke his left leg in a bout in opposition to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. It was his third loss in 4 fights and second straight to Poirier, placing him a far cry from the run he used to seize the featherweight and light-weight titles.
Nonetheless, McGregor constructed himself as much as be the the UFC’s greatest star with a wild one-punch knockout of José Aldo in 2015, his bid to carry two belts concurrently and an entertaining pair of superfights in opposition to Nate Diaz that inspired fighters to consider grabby headliners over the protocol of divisional progress.
He final received a combat in 2020. He final received a championship bout in 2016, then misplaced it about two years later to Khabib Nurmagomedov, a bout that featured an unpleasant buildup and a melee after their official contest. Since then, the most important remnant of McGregor’s stardom and movie star has been his brash trash discuss and his star energy inside the UFC.
UFC arrange McGregor’s bout with Chandler with its developmental actuality present, “The Final Fighter,” which final 12 months pitted each males in opposition to one another as coaches to mentor fighters earlier of their careers. The present has lengthy been used not simply to really feel out new names however to construct up a bout between the coaches, and Chandler, a wrestler, has not fought in two years largely as a result of he has waited for McGregor and the all however sure large payday to return with the matchup.
McGregor’s comeback even prompted the deterioration of the UFC’s relationship with USADA for drug testing, with the perimeters sparring over whether or not McGregor must be allowed to return with out the customary six months of drug testing. The UFC has a unique drug testing program because of this.
McGregor himself talked about June 29 because the date for his return in opposition to Chandler in an odd publish on New 12 months’s Eve, however he has been recognized for hyping up fights with out them truly being made, and he famous that the load class for the bout had not been decided.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 31, 2023
Now, that element has been labored out, and each McGregor and Chandler will probably be preventing at heavier weights than they ever have.
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(Photograph: Jeff Bottari / rZuffa LLC through Getty Photographs)
