Conor McGregor has some marquee matchups in mind for his return.
Earlier this year, McGregor was supposed to make his long-awaited return to the octagon in a welterweight fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303. Unfortunately, a few weeks before the event, McGregor suffered a toe injury which forced him to withdraw from the fight and fans were once again left wondering when and if the boisterous superstar would ever return.
Fortunately for fans, McGregor remains undeterred. Since withdrawing from UFC 303, the former two-division UFC champion has maintained that he will be back soon, on Tuesday McGregor spoke with The Schmo about how things are progressing on that front.
“We’re looking for the date,” McGregor said. “Hopefully, I’d like to square it away with Michael Chandler. I’d like to get Chandler in. We’ve had our beef, it’s not settled. He has a match scheduled. I’d like to fight, maybe before that or before he’s recovered so there’s a few names in the line at the minute. There’s a few names being discussed.”
Chandler does in fact have a booking. After spending nearly two years on the shelf waiting for a fight with McGregor, following the UFC 303 incident, Chandler finally opted to accept another fight, a rematch with Charles Oliveira at UFC 309.
Given that, and the fact that UFC CEO Dana White appears to be targeting an early 2025 return for McGregor, Chandler’s availability is very much up in the air at the moment. Fortunately for McGregor, there are no shortage of big names who would be more than willing to welcome him back to the cage, but “Notorious” has his sights set on two in particular: old foes Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz.
“Both of them. Both,” McGregor said. “It’s a must, for sure. The Dustin one is not settled, it’s 1-1-1. And the Diaz one is also 1-1. Two big blockbuster matches and I’m excited to get them locked in.”
Conor McGregor still wants Michael Chandler fight, also targeting ‘big blockbuster matches’ with Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz - MMA Fighting
