Conor McGregor could return to competitive action as soon as the summer of 2022, according to UFC president Dana White.
The Irishman broke his tibia during his defeat to Dustin Poirier in June of last year, and has been recuperating since.
White thinks that the recovery process is progressing well, and expects McGregor to be back in action before long.
“I think so, yeah,” Dana told TMZ when asked if he expected the 33-year-old to fight at all in 2022. “He’s doing all the right things with his leg. I’m hoping he can come back this summer.”
McGregor has been beaten in the three of his last four fights since taking a hiatus from mixed martial arts for the birth of his first child and an exhibition boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.
The former featherweight and lightweight champion could immediately face the current holder of the latter belt, Brazil’s Charles Oliveira.
However third-ranked contender Beneil Dariush hopes that McGregor is not afforded favourable treatment and the established pecking order is instead respected, with Justin Gaethje next in line to challenge.
“Honestly, I still think it might happen,” Dariush said to The Schmo on McGregor potentially returning for a title fight.
“We were actually genuinely concerned. We were like, this is going to be a joke. We’re going to get pushed back to 2023.
“So, I hope it doesn’t happen. I mean, if Charles wins or Justin wins, [and] they’re like, ‘I deserve a money fight,’ they might try to pull off that crap again.
“We’ll see. I hope not.”
