It’s been over 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 and scrapped UFC 303 bout against perennial bridesmaid Michael Chandler 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.
Name: Conor Anthony McGregor (“Notorious”) Age: 36 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 (10.6 million followers)
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)
When will Conor McGregor return to the UFC? Definitely 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 since-aborted 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.
– UFC 303 no longer being advertised on PPV – UFC have privated the Conor McGregor free fight videos posted a few days ago – Conor McGregor and Dana White have been silent – Michael Chandler is posting self help quotes on Instagram
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.
On June 14th, 2024, our (and Dana White’s) worst fears were realised: official confirmation that Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler had to be postponed indefinitely. That same morning, it was also 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.
Reports indicated McGregor had suffered a broken toe 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.
The former would defeat the latter on two weeks notice via 2nd round TKO (headkick) for his sophomore light heavyweight title defence.
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.
In the wake of all the chaos, and much tomfoolery/shenanigans/hijinks, Conor McGregor has anointed resurgent Dan Hooker as the opponent for his next fight; eyeing a headline bout in Saudi Arabia on February 1st.
McGregor broke the news to Bloody Elbow during a recent Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event in Spain — being a co-owner of the promotion — where he was spotted shooting the breeze with Hooker. And as it so happens, productive words were exchanged as opposed to the usual inflammatory kind.
“We’re kindred spirits, as you can see. We get along quite well. I think we’re both very similar. There’s a lot of similarities there,” the Kiwi banger told Australia’s Submission Radio.
“We just spoke in the ring. I’m on board. He’s on board. We just need to get the UFC on board and we’ll get this thing across the line.”
On paper, Conor McGregor vs Dan Hooker makes perfect sense if you were to ease an out-of-action superstar back into the cutthroat talent pool.
While the latter doesn’t hold any belts, the City Kickboxing product is a credentialled lightweight within the Top 5 rankings; draws a crowd as a charismatic, good-natured, relatable fan favourite; and has undergone something of a career renaissance over the course of this ongoing hot streak (beyond the aggressive tattoo work).
After back-to-back losses against now-reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (submission) and Arnold Allen (TKO), Hooker notched three consecutive wins against the bewildering Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 (TKO), Jalin Turner despite only having one good arm for the last two rounds at UFC 281 (decision); and most recently, outstruck the much-hyped Mateusz Gamrot in Perth for UFC 305 (decision).
It’s essentially the same old Dan the Dawg with refined fight IQ. Bonus: he doesn’t pose a grave offensive grappling threat towards McGregor.
Possible opponents beyond Dan Hooker
The fighters that have 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); Thompson is also coming off a losing streak and deserves a healthy payday before he lays down the gloves and bows out. 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.
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. Incidentally, he’s currently scheduled to fight Michael Chandler.
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.
Ilia Topuria Plenty of animosity between the reigning featherweight champ and the former titleholder. Both employ exciting boxing-centric styles. Guess we’ll have to see how El Matador shapes up after his bout against Max Holloway at UFC 307.
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.
Michael Chandler It never happened and you kept bro’s career on hold for years. At the very least, the other Iron Mike deserves a compensatory financial package from the organisation for the plates of s**t he’s eaten during the interim.
… but considering he’s only 2-3 from his last five fights and hurtling towards 40, 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 or Tony Ferguson — to rebuild momentum for the foightin’ Irishman’s hype train.
This is also assuming he even returns for the long-delayed battle ahead against Dan Hooker (or whoever). 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.
After stretching his legs with companies such as The Motley Fool and the odd marketing agency, Garry joined Boss Hunting in 2019 as a fully-fledged Content Specialist. In 2021, he was promoted to News Editor.
Garry proudly retains a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black bruises from Muay Thai, as well as a black belt in all things pop culture. Drop him a line at [email protected]
