Getty Image / Joe Maher
For nearly two years, mind martial arts fans have waited to learn when they would see Conor McGregor in the UFC Octagon again.
When it was announced that he would be coaching against Michael Chandler on the next season of the Ultimate fighter, fans assumed his return to the cage would be coming soon.
A fight with Chandler still appears to be the plan for the UFC, but their season of the Ultimate Fighter is set to debut at the end of the month and there has still been no fight announcement.
The fight won’t even be able to take place at the end of the season as the finale is set for mid-August and McGregor still isn’t in the USADA testing pool.
That is a pretty big issue as a fighter has to be in the testing pool for 6 months before they can step into the cage.
Today, USADA revealed that they have finally received paperwork from McGregor to add him back into the testing pool.
Statement via USADA regarding Conor McGregor's comments earlier today: pic.twitter.com/MBokE7dEQ5
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) May 19, 2023
The fact that McGregor is still not officially back in the pool means that his fight with Michael Chandler won’t be able to headline the UFC’s yearly trip to Madison Square Garden, which would have made the most sense after the fight couldn’t happen around the TUF season airing.
That likely means that the UFC will be targeting their year-end card in December for McGregor’s return.
That leaves fans to continue waiting for 7 more months.
This long wait will at least likely have one positive for the UFC. They’d close out the year with some big pay-per-view numbers.
The UFC stacks their MSG card every year and have reportedly been targeting a Jon Jones title defense for the card. Following that up with a McGregor card would mean big numbers to finish the year.
By the time he gets back in the cage, it will have been almost two and a half years since his last fight, but there will still be plenty of people tuning in to see Conor McGregor try to snap a 2-fight losing streak.