Conor McGregor has insisted that he will fight Michael Chandler before the end of the year, amid fan concerns that the UFC clash will not take place at all.
It was announced in early February that McGregor and Chandler would serve as opposing coaches on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, which airs between 30 May and 15 August, before fighting each other. However, no date, location or weight class has been confirmed for the bout.
McGregor is also absent from the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s testing pool. Fighters must be in the pool for six months and return two negative tests (and zero positives) in order to compete in the UFC. As a result, McGregor must enter the pool imminently if he is to fight before the end of 2022.
“That’s done, man,” Conor McGregor claimed in an interview with the Daily Mirror at the weekend. “That’s done. I’m ready.
“By year-end, I’m back in that cage, having competed. I’m gearing up now, ready to go.
“The fight’s signed now. It’ll be announced during The Ultimate Fighter. So, The Ultimate Fighter is airing in a few days on ESPN; by the time that show finishes, we’ll have a date and everything set for the fans.”
Irishman McGregor, 34, has not fought since July 2021, when he suffered a broken leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier.
Meanwhile, Chandler also lost to Poirier in his most recent bout, having been submitted by his fellow American in November.
Last week, the second documentary covering McGregor’s career was released on Netflix. McGregor Forever covers the former dual-weight champion’s fights with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Donald Cerrone, his back-to-back losses to Poirier in 2021, and his recovery from his broken leg. Read The Independent’s review of the four-part series here.
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