‘Extremely Confident’ Dana White Says Conor McGregor Will Fight This Summer

Conor McGregor has not fought in the UFC since his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. That means the UFC’s biggest superstar has not graced the octagon in nearly 5 years. However, that undesired streak could be over very soon if UFC CEO Dana White is to be believed.

Conor McGregor was initially booked to return to the UFC back in 2024 at UFC 303. However, that return fell through bit by bit. First, the UFC cancelled a press conference they had scheduled in Ireland. Then, the bout itself, McGregor vs Michael Chandler, fell through due to the Irishman suffering an injury. It was later replaced by Alex Pereira defending his light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka.

Simultaneously, ‘The Notorious’ was engaged in other pursuits, making it appear as if a return wasn’t on the cards. Fans had begun to give up on the Irishman’s return to the octagon. But now, Dana White has come out to reveal that he is confident about Conor McGregor’s return.

We’re in a great place with Conor. I’m extremely confident that Conor will fight this year. I’m extremely confident that we’ll get him dialed in and ready to roll. He’s training. There’s footage out there of him in training right now…He seems motivated. He’s training. And there are a lot of other great things going on behind the scenes that make me very confident that he will fight this summer.

Dana White via Jim Rome

Dana White seems to have changed his tune from last year, after he told fans that Conor McGregor would likely never come back. Even one of the Irishman’s biggest backers, Joe Rogan, who recently hailed McGregor as the “master” of trash-talk, had also given up on his return. He even said as much on the JRE to Ilia Topuria. Rogan cited McGregor’s alleged diminished motivation and partying as the reasons.

However, Dana White’s words indicate that both the reasons Joe Rogan cited may be worries from the past. Just recently, McGregor posted footage of him training with and getting the better of former UFC welterweight, Dong Hyun Kim. Coupled with Dana White’s words, a return from ‘The Notorious’ may be imminent. What’s even better is that he may already have an opponent.

Max Holloway wants a rematch with Conor McGregor

Max Holloway and Conor McGregor fought very early in both athletes’ UFC careers. Meeting in the featherweight division, McGregor beat Holloway decisively, thoroughly outgrappling the Hawaiian. However, ‘Blessed’ seems to want revenge on the Irishman as he nears a return.

Max Holloway recently revealed that he was already in camp but did not have an official contract from the UFC yet. Even so, the former featherweight champion desires a rematch with the man who handed him his third UFC loss. Holloway told UFC on Paramount that the history he shares with McGregor makes this fight more exciting.

I mean, we have history. We fought a very long time ago. I told you guys, if somebody’s got one over me, I want to get him back. I’d love to get him back. With him having all this talk of coming back and everybody talking about how serious he actually is. It looks like he’s training and taking it and really wanting to come back to fight. It’s exciting.

Max Holloway via UFC on Paramount

The former featherweight champion seems to have a chip on his shoulder regarding the loss to Conor McGregor. Max Holloway was only 21 years old when he fought and subsequently lost to Conor McGregor. The Hawaiian native has earlier jokingly referred to himself at that point in his career as ‘Tadpole Max.’ So, it stands to reason that he wants to get back at McGregor.

Despite all the rumors pointing to Conor McGregor’s return fight being against Max Holloway, Chael Sonnen isn’t a believer. The UFC legend believes the former double champion’s return fight will happen at no less than 170lbs. So, he believes that the Irishman has better options at his disposal at the higher weight classes.

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