4 UFC fighters who will definitely be inactive in 2024

The UFC has had a good year, putting on exciting shows for fight fans with popular fighters showing good skills, tough hearts, and entertaining personalities. Exciting UFC fighters fans love to see perform are Michael Chandler, Shavkat Rakhmanov, Jiří Procházka, and Conor McGregor. Those types of fighters always put on shows when they fight but need to be active to perform. There are fighters fight fans love to see perform, but, they are just not active enough. Fighters who will likely not be active for the rest of 2024 will be discussed below.

1. Josh Emmett

While No. 7 ranked Josh Emmett comes from a college wrestling background, he is probably the hardest hitter in the featherweight division. One good punch can end a fight at any moment that can put almost any fighter out. As he was down two rounds to Johnson in March 2019, Emmett stole the fight with one punch as there was a minute left. At UFC 296, Emmett was 38 and coming off two damaging losses. He needed a win against the younger Bryce Mitchell, who was winning more fights than him. Emmett saved his career as he produced one of the scariest knockouts ever, in the first round, with one good punch.

Emmett is always entertaining, as fight fans seem to always enjoy his performances, whether he wins or loses. After one of the best knockouts of 2023, everyone was wondering what Emmett would pursue next. He has not been active in 2024 at all and rumor has it, he has been dealing with injuries. It does not look like he will be active in 2024 given how he is barely transparent on social media about his inactivity. Whoever he decides to pursue in 2025 will be intriguing to see.

2. Colby Covington

No. 5 ranked Colby Covington has always been one of the loudest personalities in the UFC. With his loudmouthed trash talk and open support for Donald Trump, his fighting style is composed of heavy wrestling, pressure, cardio, and striking with high volume. Though he gets high praise for competitive fights with Kamaru Usman, the former welterweight champion, he is also known for having no wins against top-five competition, in their prime. Covington's best known for beating out-of-prime competition and talking loud enough to get his title shot. For his second title shot, he dominated Tyron Woodley, who was washed, and Jorge Masvidal, also washed, for his third title shot. Covington was inactive for nearly two years after the Masvidal win until he got his title shot against Leon Edwards at UFC 296.

Before his title fight against Edwards, Covington was talking loudly about how he was going to show his best but did not back it up in the end. He was on the back foot for the majority of one of the most boring title fights in history. Covington claims a fractured foot played a part, which was funny because Usman won the title against Woodley with a fractured foot himself. After that fight, Covington claimed he did not have a scratch and wanted to return soon. However, he did not back that up too, and has not fought in 2024 at all. Since names he expressed interest in are injured or booked, it is highly unlikely that Covington will be active at all in 2024.

3. Michael Chandler

No. 6 ranked lightweight Michael Chandler was an exciting champion at Bellator and one of the UFC's hottest signings ever. When he signed, Chandler set goals to be champion and put on legendary shows against the top UFC legends. After knocking out Dan Hooker in his UFC debut in the first round, Chandler fought for the vacant lightweight title, after Khabib Nurmagomedov formally retired, and lost to Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 by second-round knockout. Despite losing at UFC 268 by unanimous decision, he produced one of the greatest fights ever with Justin Gaethje. Chandler finally bounced back as he earned the Knockout of the Year at UFC 274, where he became the first fighter to knockout Tony Ferguson in May 2022. In his post-fight interview, he gave a legendary call-out to be the return fight of Conor McGregor.

McGregor expressed interest, but, was not quite healed from a leg injury to compete in 2022. Chandler ended up producing another war, but, this time with Dustin Poirier at UFC 281, where Poirier won by third-round submission. Chandler then pursued the McGregor fight again, which led to coaching the Ultimate Fighter. They did not fight in 2023 due to insufficient room on PPVs for the fighters and McGregor not getting into the USADA testing pool for six months. Chandler and McGregor finally got scheduled for UFC 303, at International Fight Week, until McGregor pulled out with a broken toe. Chandler is so committed to the McGregor fight that he will not fight in 2024.

4. Conor McGregor

The biggest name on this list is the fighter who helped the UFC get popular due to his star power. McGregor's fights had the biggest pay-per-view sales due to his hilarious, trash-talking persona, which sold fights. He backed it up in his prime as he became the first UFC two-division champion at featherweight and lightweight. After making history in MMA, he made history in boxing with the second-biggest boxing fight in history against Floyd Mayweather, where he lost but he looked elite, exceeding many people's expectations. After Mayweather, McGregor returned to MMA as an inactive competitor. He lost to Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, beat Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, and lost to Poirier at UFC 257.

McGregor fought once per year in each fight later in his career. After an upset loss to Poirier in a rematch, they both got booked for a trilogy at UFC 257, which was International Fight Week. The fight was competitive until McGregor snapped his ankle at the end of the first round. If McGregor returns in early 2025, he will have been inactive for three and a half years in the longest layoff of his MMA career. His return has continually been delayed due to various circumstances and, hopefully, it gets settled rightfully next time.