It appears that a December Octagon return for Conor McGregor is back on the table

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It appears that a December Octagon return for Conor McGregor is back on the table

It appears that a December Octagon return for Conor McGregor is back on the table.

For weeks there has been chatter around whether or not the Irishman’s expected return bout against Michael Chandler would actually take place before the year’s end in 2023. Both McGregor and Chandler have been expected to clash with one another after coaching opposite one another on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter.

However, with McGregor not yet entering the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing pool, and a required six-month testing period for athletes before competing, a return for “Mystic Mac” in 2023 seemed unlikely. McGregor went as far as bashing USADA in a recent series of audio notes on X for not granting him an exemption similar to that of Brock Lesnar prior to UFC 200.

Now, that seems to have changed, as the former two-division champion took to Twitter and teased that a December date with Chandler is, in fact, back in play.

With no official news made as of this writing, McGregor seems to be indicating that USADA may have granted him his desired exemption. The Irishman hasn’t recorded a mixed martial arts (MMA) victory since his January 2020 first-round stoppage victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

Since, McGregor has been on a two-fight losing skid, with both of those losses comin to longtime rival Dustin Poirier. The latter of the bouts saw McGregor break his leg in devastating fashion, which resulted in a lengthy layoff that required surgery and rehabilitation. Now, “Notorious” seems keen on getting back to work, with Michael Chandler all but locked in as his next foe.

Chandler has lost three of his last four bouts inside the Octagon, with his most recent appearance resulting in a third-round submission defeat to Dustin Poirier back in November. Now, after having coached opposite McGregor on TUF, the former Bellator lightweight kingpin has the opportunity to record what would be the biggest victory of his career should he get past McGregor in a potential scrap.

https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufcnews/it-appears-that-a-december-octagon-return-for-conor-mcgregor-is-back-on-the-table