Mixed martial arts Irish superstar Conor McGregor is finally returning to the UFC’s Octagon. And his comeback will happen sooner rather than later and against a big-time name.
Combat sports fans and casual observers haven’t seen “Notorious” duke it out with an opponent for nearly three years. He last competed in July 2021 at UFC 264 when he stood opposite Dustin Poirier in a trilogy bout. Heading into the heated affair, McGregor and “The Diamond” had both earned one victory apiece over the other.
However, their third encounter unceremoniously ended as McGregor broke his leg during the opening round. Poirier earned one more notch in the win column and Notorious headed to emergency surgery.
Now that McGregor’s leg is fully healed and he’s finished filming and promoting Road House, he’s ready to don four-ounce MMA gloves. After UFC 300 wrapped on April 13, UFC CEO Dana White announced at the post-fight press conference that McGregor was returning to action at UFC 303 on Saturday, June 29.
The former lightweight and featherweight champion will take on multiple-time Bellator 155-pound kingpin Michael Chandler in the night’s headlining act. The event will serve as the capstone for the promotion’s annual “International Fight Week” in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it’ll broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena.
Although both men have held gold as lightweights the match will be contested at welterweight — 170 pounds — according to White. The rest of UFC 303 is still being assembled, so expect to hear fight announcements about the June pay-per-view card in the coming weeks.
For the uninitiated, Chandler is regarded as one of the most exciting forces in the sport. “Iron” boasts a professional mixed martial arts record of 23-8 with 11 wins via KO/TKO and seven by submission. In five UFC appearances, Chandler’s only seen the scorecards once and has taken home fight bonuses in four Octagon performances. His most notable victory in the black cage was over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 in May 2022 when he silenced “El Cucuy” with a vicious head kick.
Although it’s not as long as McGregor’s hiatus, we haven’t seen Chandler compete in a meaningful amount of time. Like McGregor, Chandler’s last match was against Poirier. They clashed at UFC 281 in November 2022 and Iron was forced to tap to a third-round rear-naked choke.
As rival coaches, McGregor and Chandler filmed UFC’s long-running reality competition series The Ultimate Fighter early last year. So, to say the build-up for their meeting has been long is an understatement. Regardless, it sounds like the contracts have been signed and they’ll go to war in around two months.
