It’s been almost three years since Conor McGregor headlined a UFC main event — the longest period he’s been absent from the promotion since the preparation for his crossover bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr — with countless fans now wondering about his next fight.
The self-proclaimed “mad Irish baby” of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Lee, former two-division champion, and Irish superstar has teased a UFC comeback on multiple occasions. Especially while recovering from a nasty leg injury sustained during his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier.
But provocative online chat aside: when is McGregor realistically millionaire walking his ass back into the Octagon (if at all)? Here’s everything we know about Conor McGregor’s next fight.
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Conor McGregor Overview
Name: Conor Anthony McGregor (“Notorious”)
Age: 35
Date of Birth: July 14, 1988
Height: 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Last Official Weight: 156 lb (71 kg)
Reach: 74 in (188 cm)
Style: Boxing & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Black Belt)
Coach & Team: John Kavanagh & SBG Ireland
Nationality: Irish (from Crumlin, Dublin)
Net Worth: $200 million (Estimated)
Social Media Accounts: Instagram — @thenotoriousmma (47.5 million followers) | Twitter — @thenotoriousmma (10.4 million followers)
Conor McGregor MMA Career Stats
MMA Record: 22 Wins (19 Knockouts, 1 Submission, 2 Decisions) — 6 Losses (2 Knockouts, 4 Submissions)
UFC Record: 10 Wins (9 Knockouts, 2 Decisions) — 4 Losses (2 Knockouts, 2 Submissions)
Accolades & Accomplishments:
- Interim UFC Featherweight Champion (One time)
- UFC Featherweight Champion (One time)
- UFC Lightweight Champion (One time)
- Fight of the Night (Two times) vs Nate Diaz (2)
- Knockout of the Night (One time) vs Marcus Brimage
- Performance of the Night (Seven times) vs Diego Brandão, Dustin Poirier, Dennis Siver, Chad Mendes, José Aldo, Eddie Alvarez, Donald Cerrone
- First Irish-born UFC champion
- Third Multi-Divisional Champion in UFC history (Featherweight, Lightweight)
- First Simultaneous Multi-Divisional Champion in UFC history (Featherweight, Lightweight)
- Most Consecutive Performance of the Night Awards in UFC history (5)
- Most Consecutive Post-Fight Bonuses in UFC history (8)
- Tied for Second-Most Performance of the Night awards as a UFC Fighter (7)
- Fastest Title Fight Victory in UFC history (13 seconds) vs José Aldo
- CWFC Featherweight Champion (One time)
- CWFC Lightweight Champion (One time)
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When will Conor McGregor return to the UFC? Probably not 2024
Suffice it to say, it’s been quite the saga.
Despite initial claims that it wasn’t actually in development, UFC President Dana White would later confirm Conor McGregor would fight Michael Chandler for his 2024 UFC return.
The hotly-anticipated date was set for June 29th, 2024 in Las Vegas during the promotion’s annual International Fight Week (UFC 303) at the 170-pound weight division (welterweight); effectively opening the door for an entire world of exciting possibilities beyond UFC 303 (more on this later).
In the lead-up to all this, both the former two-division champion and Bellator transplant served as opposing coaches in The Ultimate Fighter season 31 — Team McGregor vs Team Chandler — which premiered back in May 2023 and wrapped up later that year in August.
McGregor’s return was then delayed by his commitment to Amazon Prime Video’s Road House reboot, in which he starred opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, with plenty of social media antics to fill the radio silence in between.
But sadly, this wasn’t a solid guarantee of anything.
Bad Omen after Bad Omen
It started with the “unprecedented” decision to cancel the UFC 303 press conference in Dublin less than 12 hours away from the cameras rolling; though arguably there were signs before that.
“Dear UFC Fans, The #UFC303 press conference scheduled for Monday June 3rd in Dublin, Ireland at 3Arena has been postponed until further notice,” the company posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“We sincerely apologise to all the fans who were planning to attend. When we have further information on a new date and time, we will share it immediately. — Thank you.”
Conor McGregor himself then took to social media, issuing the following statement:
“In consultation with the UFC, [today’s] press conference was cancelled due to a series of obstacles outside of our control. I apologize to my Irish fans, and fans around the world, for the inconvenience and appreciate all your passion and support. I can’t wait to put on the greatest all-time show in the Octagon.”
This development occurs as footage of McGregor partying like there’s no tomorrow surfaces just weeks away from his scheduled fight date (see above); with reports from the likes of pundits like Ariel Helwani that the promotion has “sent out feelers” for potential replacements.
The Cancellation
On June 14th, 2024, our (and Dana White’s) worst fears were realised.
On the same morning it was revealed that middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev had pulled out his similarly anticipated bout against Australia’s own Robert Whittaker for the Abu Dhabi Fight Night, we received confirmation that Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler had been postponed indefinitely.
The reason cited?
Reports indicate McGregor had suffered an injury during his fight camp, though multiple sources speculate this was due to his monied lifestyle. As the saying goes — it’s hard to get up in the morning to work the salt mines when you sleep in silk sheets.
With the main event removed from the UFC 303 card entirely, the organisation managed to co-ordinate a tantalising substitute: an almost immediate rematch between reigning light heavyweight champion (and former middleweight king) Alex Pereira against former light heavyweight titleholder Jiri Prochazka.
Currently, it’s unclear when Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon (if at all).
UFC 303: Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka II
Main event. Five rounds. Light Heavyweight bout.
- Date: June 29th, 2024 (International Fight Week
- Event: UFC 303
- Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Other confirmed fights include the following:
Jamahal HillAnthony Smith vs Carlos Ulberg (Light Heavyweight)- Brian Ortega vs Diego Lopes (Featherweight)
- Mayra Bueno Silva vs Macy Chiasson (Women’s Bantamweight)
- Joe Pyfer vs Marc-André Barriault (Middleweight)
- Ian Machado Garry vs Michael Page (Welterweight)
- Cub Swanson vs Andre Fili (Featherweight)
- Charles Jourdain vs Jean Silva (Featherweight)
- Payton Talbott vs Yanis Ghemmouri (Bantamweight)
- Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs Gillian Robertson (Women’s Strawweight)
- Andrei Arlovski vs Martin Buday (Heavyweight)
- Rei Tsuruya vs Carlos Hernandez (Flyweight)
- Ricky Simón vs Vinicius Oliveira (Bantamweight)
At least the USADA problem is no longer a factor
Previously, all UFC athletes were required to be enrolled in the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing program for a minimum of six months before fighting. And this was once the best indicator for the actual timeline of Conor McGregor’s next fight.
On October 8th, 2023, USADA formally announced that Mystic Mac had officially re-enrolled into said testing pool. Meaning that theoretically, the earliest we’d see Conor McGregor in the Octagon again was April 8th, 2024.
Now I know what you’re thinking: why wasn’t he already/still enrolled? Shortly after his leg snapped against Dustin Poirier’s at UFC 264, McGregor had withdrawn from the programme to recover. Potentially with the help of peptides and what have you.
The UFC and USADA’s partnership officially concluded without a renewal on December 31st, 2023; with UFC President Dana White expressing his disgust for how the agency supposedly treated his promotion’s athletes (among other things).
In short, all the testing avoidance and doping-related delays were essentially for naught.
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Possible opponents beyond Michael Chandler
The fighters that have consistently been in the conversation vis-à-vis Conor McGregor’s next fight along with their merits are as follows:
- Dustin Poirier IV
Gruesome and meme-worthy as it was, the first-round doctor stoppage at UFC 264 was rather anti-climactic with many viewing the Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier trilogy as incomplete. Running it back would bring about some closure for the fans. It could also be the win Poirier needs before he retires after the recent loss against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302. - Stephen Thompson
Pitting two incredibly creative strikers of Wonderboy and McGregor’s calibre would be a dream (proof: Stephen Thompson vs Kevin Holland Fight Night). Outside the cage, the dynamic would also be hilarious. Imagine the UFC roster’s nicest guy — the NMF title holder — against someone as abrasive as McGregor. Plus Thompson deserves a healthy payday. - Charles Oliveira
Yet another stylistically tasty match-up, in this case with a fellow former lightweight champ who occupies the grappling side of the MMA coin (while McGregor obviously likes to keep things standing) and tends to put on a good show. Absence of belts be damned, Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira and Mystic Mac are both the people’s champs. - Alexander Volkanovski
No further explanation really required. Australia’s former featherweight champion and pound-for-pound king kicked it up a notch after a well-documented history of vague threats (mostly instigated by McGregor) by formally issuing a challenge via Twitter: “Anytime, anywhere, any weight.” Watch the pay-per-view money print. - Leon Edwards
Experimenting with current welterweight champion Leon Edwards — or even the likes of Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, Khamzat Chimaev, and Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena — is something we’d certainly pay to see. Especially given welterweight seems like where McGregor will naturally hover. - The Return of Nate Diaz(?)
Yes, Nate Diaz has retired from the promotion after a vintage performance against Tony Ferguson at last September’s UFC 279. But you know what’d probably draw him back in? Earning some extra cheddar by completing his own McGregor trilogy. Let’s see how Stockton’s finest is feeling after his proposed MMA rematch against Jake Paul, who he lost to during their boxing bout.
… but considering he’s only 2-3 from his last five fights, perhaps UFC boss Dana White will feed him a contender with fewer elite skills than the UFC athletes listed above — or perhaps an athlete on their way out like Donald Cerrone — to rebuild momentum for the foightin’ Irishman’s hype train.
This is also assuming he even returns for the long-delayed battle ahead against the human gorilla that is Michael Chandler. For the time being, the future of Conor McGregor as a UFC fighter remains cloudy.
Let’s just hope the theatrics and drama of his life beyond the cage don’t overshadow his athletic endeavours. It’d certainly be a waste of talent.
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