Conor McGregor just 'confirmed' his next fight, Michael Chandler responds

Here we go again. Conor McGregor has seemingly announced his next fight, but we've been here before. So take this confirmation with a grain of salt.

"We got confirmation a few days ago that it's all systems go and 'The Mac,' 'The Notorious' will be returning to the UFC Octagon this summer," he told ESPN while promoting Road House.

This announcement of sorts matches one McGregor gave on New Year's Eve in which he proclaimed he would fight Michael Chandler at 185 pounds in the main event at UFC International Fight Week on June 29. UFC president Dana White quickly denied that rumor and reminded the media that it would be the UFC who announced his next bout, not McGregor.

We have all been waiting for McGregor to return to the UFC since he was injured in 2021. We thought it as getting close when he agreed to coach The Ultimate Fighter alongside Chandler but that was almost a year ago and no fight has ever been made. In fact, the UFC is now filming the next season of the show, setting that timeline back yet again.

Michael Chandler has hilarious response to Conor McGregor fight announcement

Chandler has been waiting on the sidelines for months for McGregor and has been a good sport along the way. After the news of McGregor's announcement, Chandler took to Twitter to crack jokes.

"I’m not sure I’ll be ready for a summer fight…this came out of the blue…I’ve been out of the loop. Can y’all ask Dana to confirm this?" he tweeted.

Despite how unlikely this announcement really is, JUNE 29 does sound like a good date. International Fight Week is always a massive event for the UFC and there will be a lot of attention being paid to that event.

McGregor hasn't fought since he broke his leg in his thrid fight with Dustin Poirier. Since then he's recovered, filmed a documentary and a movie and seems to be at his wits end to fight again.

Chandler is in a similar boat having last fought at UFC 281 in November 2022. Oddly enough, his last fight was also a loss to Poirier. The difference in the layoffs is that ChandLer was sidelined due to McGregor's stalling.