Irish MMA icon Conor McGregor will make his return to the Octagon this year to face Michael Chandler in the finale of the upcoming Ultimate Fighter season.
McGregor, 34, hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in a July 2021 bout vs. Dustin Poirier. Though he’s teased a return to action several times since, the announcement marks the first time he’s officially put pen to paper on a fight in nearly two years.
Season 31 of the Ultimate Fighter will run from May 30th through August 15th, however a date and location for the finale have yet to be confirmed.
The Notorious one is a former two division UFC champion and sports a lifetime record of 22-6 across all promotions. That being said, McGregor has dropped 3 of his last 4 fights including back to back losses to Dustin Poirier in a six month span.
Chandler, 36, is a former Bellator champion who, much like McGregor, has dropped 3 of his last 4 contests. His lone victory since 2021 came in May of 2022 when he scored a knockout victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274.
That however hasn’t dampened the American’s spirits as he recently told listeners on a recent podcast episode of “Bussin’ With The Boys” that “Even with him being 170 [pounds], I think I have more power…and I do think I’m faster than him, especially because I’m going to be the same body composition I always have been for the last 30 fights, whereas he has a new body composition, which may or may not slow him down a little bit.”
He went on to add “Grappling department, wrestling department, and overall cardio and toughness department – I think I’m better in all areas. He’s better at the trash talk, and he’s better at getting in guys’ heads.”
A late August, early September date is expected for the highly anticipated bout according to insiders, though nothing is official as of yet.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Andrius Petrucenia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.