Conor McGregor has a habit of calling out lots of different fighters, but it seems that when he does finally return to the Octagon he still intends to be going up against Michael Chandler.
“Yes, it has to be. Has to be,” McGregor said of Chandler being his next opponent in an impromptu interview with All Out Fighting during the launch of his new Forged Irish Stout. “Chandler, sit down and wait and shut your mouth, yeah? The Mac will be here soon.”
As for when that might finally happen, McGregor still seems to be clinging onto the idea that it will take place before the end of the year.
“En route, I’m still hoping for December,” McGregor claimed.
That’s perhaps more in hope than expectation however given that as recently as Tuesday, Dana White had seemed adamant McGregor wouldn’t be back until 2024.
“I’ve been saying for awhile, next year is when Conor’s going to fight,” White told reporters after the latest episode of the Contender Series.
Further evidence to suggest that a December return is unlikely is the fact that UFC 296, the final PPV show of the year on December 16th, has been filling up fast with big-name fights in the past week, including two top-of-the-bill title fights that will see welterweight champion Leon Edwards fights Colby Covington in the main event, while flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja goes up against Brandon Royval in the co-main event.
With Stephen Thompson vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Garry vs. Vicente Luque and Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett also on-board it would appear that the UFC already have a full main card booked.
Meanwhile, McGregor also made it clear he still intends to have a trilogy clash with Nate Diaz at some stage in the future, even though he admits that his old rival looked “not great” in his recent decision loss to Jake Paul in the boxing ring.
“I’d like to see him back in MMA. I owe him a fight. I owe Nate a fight, so I’ve got to obligate that. He gave me my rematch and I got the better of him, and I owe him the trilogy for sure.”
