Former two-division champion Conor McGregor plans for an ambitious UFC return, intending on fighting Michael Chandler in December and potentially Justin Gaethje and Nate Diaz in future bouts, but needs to undergo doping tests under UFC’s anti-doping program if he is to compete this year.
Conor McGregor has made known his ambitious plans to return to the UFC. The former two-division champion, who has been out of action since suffering serious leg injury in his last defeat to Dustin Poirier in 2021, expresses his intentions on facing Michael Chandler in his next match. McGregor reveals he is eager to make his comeback prior to the end of 2023 and suggests eagerness to fight Chandler in December. When speaking to TalkSport, the Irishman declared he had to fight Chandler, and he had to grab him by the chest and smack him.
However, McGregor’s plan to fight in December will likely cause a stir, as he still hasn’t participated in anti-doping tests under UFC’s guidelines to date. The existing rules state that fighters who are under contract with the UFC, but had retired thus keeping away from the testing pool, must go through at least six months of doping tests before they can return to the competition. Though there is the possibility of an exemption from the six-month testing regime, the last time this occurred was in 2016 when former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar competed at UFC 200, which subsequently lead to him testing positive for a prohibited substance, with his victory over Mark Hunt being overturned to a no-contest, and resulted in a one-year suspension.
Pressure is now on the UFC to decide if they would grant McGregor the same exemption as was previously granted to Lesnar, to sidestep the required six-month testing program. Regardless of this hurdle, McGregor remains optimistic for his future matches in the UFC. He expects Chandler to be his first opponent, to be followed by Justin Gaethje, BMF, and then to round off with the Nate Diaz trilogy. McGregor and Diaz have hinted at the possibility of a trilogy since 2016, a bout that will be the tiebreaker in their 1-1 record against each other, with Diaz’s rear-naked choke victory in the first encounter and McGregor’s win by majority decision in the rematch.
In addition to his interest in the UFC, McGregor is looking to venture into other arenas. After witnessing Anthony Joshua’s victorious knockout in a recent boxing event, McGregor has issued a challenge to online influencer KSI for a bare-knuckle boxing match. The move led KSI to respond with a mocking tweet to McGregor, insinuating that he did not have to face an MMA fighter to earn the position that he is in.