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Conor McGregor won’t get an opponent for his UFC return until he’s actually ready to fight again.
That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White, who addressed a question about either Michael Chandler or Charles Oliveira potentially competing for that fight when they clash at UFC 309 in November. Chandler was originally supposed to welcome McGregor back to the octagon but constant delays and their fight cancellation at UFC 303 in June ultimately led to him booking a rematch against Oliveira instead.
Now White is staying noncommittal when it comes to McGregor’s list of possible opponents.
“It’s going to [be] determined when Conor comes back, who the opponent is,” White said during a Q&A with fans in Ireland on Thursday. “Whenever Conor is ready and he comes back.
“He hit me up last night when he heard that I was here [in Dublin]. He’s in New York right now, and he is training.”
In other words, McGregor’s opponent won’t be determined until his return date is actually set.
That’s a far cry from the past 18 months when McGregor got matched up with Chandler after they agreed to coach The Ultimate Fighter against each other before setting up an eventual fight.
Sadly issues continued to arise that prevented McGregor from competing — including six months of drug testing required after he dropped out of the UFC’s anti-doping program while recovering from a broken leg suffered in his fight against Dustin Poirier back in 2021.
McGregor was scheduled to fight Chandler in June but the Irish superstar suffered a broken pinky toe on his foot that forced him to drop off UFC 303.
There were rumors about McGregor potentially returning before the end of the year, but White eventually revealed that the former two-division UFC champion wouldn’t come back until sometime in 2025.
That led to Chandler deciding to book his fight against Oliveira in November rather than continuing to sit on the sidelines waiting for a showdown with McGregor that may never happen.
Now it looks like McGregor has to commit to a date before the UFC sets him up with any opponent for his first fight back in nearly four years.