Conor McGregor's UFC comeback has an opponent and a promotional plan, but we are still waiting on the location and the official fight date for his return.
The legendary two-weight world champion will take on Michael Chandler, first as an opposition coach on The Ultimate Fighter and then as a fighter. The pair have been generally respectful over the past few years, but former Bellator champion Chandler has made no secret of wanting to fight McGregor.
Starting in the coming weeks and airing in May for the entire summer, the pair will head to The Ultimate Fighter house where they will coach teams of former UFC fighters who have been cut against a team of prospects. It is unclear as yet when their eventual fight will take place, but McGregor needs six months of drug testing before he can make his comeback.
Here's all we know so far...
When is Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler?
No date has been confirmed yet for McGregor vs Chandler, but their fight will come at the end of season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, which finishes on August 15. The show begins airing on May 13 on ESPN in America and likely BT Sport in the UK, meaning that it will run through the summer.
Reports are that the UFC are keen to have the fight in September, which would be their pay-per-view headliner for the month. The second week of September was the week that the UFC held their PPV in 2022, which would mean a possible September 9 fight date this year if that pattern continued.
Where is Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler?
Promoter Dana White has said that they are considering Madison Square Garden, T-Mobile Arena and the massive AT&T Stadium in Dallas for this massive fight. McGregor's sole covid-era fight took place in Abu Dhabi, but he otherwise appears to be a Las Vegas-exclusive fighter.
Since becoming a py-per-view headliner in 2015, he has fought at the MGM Grand and the T-Mobile Arena, with Raiders Stadium now also a possibility. He has a deal with Wynn Nightlife for his post-fight parties which are massive financial draws, so expect that bout to land in Las Vegas, with the T-Mobile Arena a more likely venue.
Undercard
There's no way of knowing what will make up an undercard for most UFC events, but this one is a little easier to put together. Expect to see the TUF finale, as well as a number of fighters from the show who didn't get through filling up the card. It also wouldn't be surprising to see Ian Garry land on the event, and if he can get through Adam Shelley at Cage Warriors Dublin; a returning Dean Barry.
Quotes Corner
Michael Chandler: "Conor is the fight that I wanted, he has expressed interest in wanting to fight me and now here we are. The competition starts right now. We're going to be stuck together in the same city for a month, or month and a half, but the competition is 24/7 the entire time. I want to win this thing; I don't want to beat Conor later this year, I want to beat Conor badly on TUF. I don't even want him to win a fight."
