Conor McGregor’s UFC comeback has been delayed once again.
‘Notorious’ recently declared he would be returning to the Octagon in February.
However, UFC president Dana White insists that is not the case.
“Conor is going to come back late 25 so there is a lot of time for us to work out who is going to fight Conor,” he said at the UFC 309 press conference on Saturday night.
“There is no doubt Conor wants to fight, he hits me up all the time.
“I told you guys he probably wasn’t going to fight in 2024 and he didn’t.
“He’s going to fight in 2025, probably at the end of the year, if it is earlier that is good for all of us.”
McGregor has not competed in MMA since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
He was set to return to action in June of this year against Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 303.
But the fight got called off after McGregor broke his toe in sparring.
Chandler had been waiting almost two years for his shot at McGregor and so moved on to rematch Charles Oliveira at UFC 309.
He lost the fight via a wide unanimous decision but earned a lot of plaudits for his gutsy display.
Particularly, in the fifth and final round when Chandler threw the kitchen sink at Oliveira as he chased the finish.
Chandler had hoped that a win would have elevated him into a title shot against Islam Makhachev but it wasn’t to be.
Instead, he called out his old pal McGregor to finally settle their score.
“Joe [Rogan], all I know how to do is throw American badass caution to the wind,” he said post-fight.
“Madison Square Garden, are you not entertained?
“I had a bunch of callouts, I was supposed to show up tonight, do my job and win the fight.
“Forget calling out Islam, Charles is doing that next. Maybe Max Holoway for the BMF belt.
“Or Conor McGregor if you can ever get your house back in order while us real professionals have been keeping the Octagon warm.
“We are wondering where you have been Conor. Come back and beat me, if you can?”
