Conor McGregor has revealed that he is planning to return to the octagon this year - with UFC 296 on December 16 the likely date he is targeting.
The Notorious has not fought in two years since suffering a leg break in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier and has agreed to fight Michael Chandler in his next bout.
However, McGregor has yet to re-enter the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's testing program, which USADA have stated he will have to be in for six months before being eligible to fight.
READ MORE: Conor McGregor fight update as Dana White says Michael Chandler incident was "s***" and "not good"
That would mean that McGregor will not be able to compete in 2023, but UFC President Dana White stated recently that there might still be a possibility of the Dubliner fighting before the end of the year.
When asked by TSN if the bout could still go ahead before the end of 2023, White said: "100 per cent."
He added: "He's not (back in the USADA testing pool). We’ll see how that plays out. They're saying that now but who knows?
"I don’t talk about s*** until s*** happens, you know what I mean? To sit here and think hypothetically how a million different things could happen, no idea.
"I’m focused on what’s happening this Saturday [UFC 290], and then next Saturday. UFC 300 isn’t even in my mind right now. The Conor thing, who the hell knows how that’s gonna play out? Who cares what USADA says? We’ll see what happens when it happens. So, I don’t know.”
In a tweet which he has since deleted, McGregor said he would fight again in December before adding he was going to "torture" Chandler.
He said: "I’m going to take him to the 3rd and torture him."
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