Although it’s removed from the primary time that he’s teased a comeback, Conor McGregor has confirmed the latest report that he’s lastly returning to the UFC this summer time.
With a reasonably low-profile UFC Seattle card on faucet for this weekend, yesterday’s report from Ariel Helwani that “The Notorious” will return to the UFC throughout International Fight Week has been one of many dominant fight sports activities headlines of the previous couple of days.
Longtime MMA followers know higher than to get too excited in regards to the thought of a return battle for the most important star in UFC historical past, however for the second this seems to be probably the most promising replace on a McGregor comeback since he was booked to headline UFC 303 towards Michael Chandler however withdrew from the matchup with a damaged toe.
Conor McGregor Confirms Report Of UFC Return Fight
Following Helwani’s report that McGregor could be combating on July 11 barring “something disastrous”, the Irishman took to Instagram to verify the information and have fun his personal potential return to the cage.
It’s now been nicely over 4 years since followers final noticed McGregor step into the Octagon at UFC 264, the place a trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier got here to an early finish when “The Notorious” suffered a damaged ankle that ended the battle following the conclusion of the primary spherical.
The loss at UFC 264 put McGregor on a two-fight skid after he was additionally stopped by Poirier of their rematch early that 12 months. The Irishman’s lone win since knocking out Eddie Alvarez to win the light-weight belt at UFC 205 in 2016 is a 40-second end of a late-career model of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in 2020.
Who Will “The Notorious” Face In First UFC Fight Since 2021?
The huge query any time the topic of a McGregor comeback arises is at all times who the previous two-division UFC champion may face, and at this stage the UFC appears conscious that followers would query if he was thrown straight again right into a title bout after back-to-back losses and an enormous layoff.
The UFC 303 matchup along with his opposing The Ultimate Fighter coach Chandler appeared to be an affordable return battle for “The Notorious” to doubtlessly vault again into the light-weight rankings, however Chandler is now scheduled to face Mauricio Ruffy as a part of “Freedom Fights 250” at The White House.
Even after greater than 4 years away, McGregor doubtless received’t be returning to battle somebody that’s an unestablished identify within the UFC, particularly provided that he’ll presumably headline no matter card he’s scheduled to battle on.
A trilogy bout with Nate Diaz has lengthy been on the want record of many MMA followers, however Diaz is reportedly already set for a lucrative payday on May 16 when he takes on fellow UFC veteran Mike Perry as half Netflix’s MVP MMA 1, which is headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
