The UFC’s biggest star Conor McGregor has been noticeably absent from competition. Following his last fight being tagainst Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July of 2021. A trilogy which ended in tragedy for the superstar who broke his leg in the first round. Following his injury there has been rampant speculation about the notorious one’s absence. There has been series of conflicting statements from both McGregor and Dana White as to when the Mac will return.
Unsurprisingly, McGregor needed time off after the leg break to heal and rehab. However, going off his social media and appearance in interviews Mcgregor seemed to have been healthy by late 202. Then the bombshell of an announcement for The Ultimate Fighter 31. Coached by Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler hit in March 2023. Typically following a season of TUF the coaches would have a fight announced. Then fight shortly after yet this never materialised leaving many fans perplexed.
Conor McGregor Post TUF Waiting Game
Since then Conor has made many appearances in various interviews at boxing events. Even media events such as the press tour for the most recent Roadhouse movie which McGregor features in. In these interviews McGregor has appeared very frantic, frustrated and eager to fight stating in an interview at Joshua vs Wallin:
“I’m waiting. I’m waiting and I’m waiting. My patience is wearing thin on me waiting.” On top of this mentioning ,”I was supposed to be back in April. It was supposed to be December. They’ve never treated anyone [like this].”. To add to this in a very recent interview for Roadhouse reiterated “it keeps getting pushed back” referring to his fight date.
This suggests that the UFC and McGregor have been experiencing a rough patch which would not be the first time McGregor claiming that the UFC have been keeping him inactive. This may be due to pay issues McGregor being the star that he is costing a small fortune and the UFC may be reluctant to pay him that price as seen with their former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou who experienced monetary issues and was subsequently inactive until his contract ran out.
Dana White Has His Say on the Delay
Adding to the mystery Dana White whenever asked about McGregors return has been vague and insinuating issues on Mcgregors end such as at a media scrum for Volkanovski vs Topuria stating, “Conor McGregor doesn’t need money” and asking the reporter “if you had sh*tloads of money would you be sitting here right now?”. The implication being Conor’s wealth is the issue. But, later on in the interview he says the most pressing reason for McGregors absence was due to, “media obligations” referring to Roadhouse press and insisting “has always been a great partner to us” suggesting no issue.
it’s been evident in the past few years that both parties are clearly not on the same page resulting in inactivity for the Irishman. This has been a re-occuring issue this current spell of inactivity getting close to 3 years. Mr White has suggested Conor could be fighting this year admitting “he does want to fight this year” which is rather vague and isn’t saying much with anyone who’s been following Mcgregor knowing his desire to be active.
Overall, there are not many signs of when the Mystic Mac will comeback with us just hearing more of the same from both parties with McGregor’s eagerness and frustration and Mr White’s vague answers to any questions asked about what’s going on. Whatever issues there are hopefully they are resolved so Conor can finally fight poor Michael Chandler who like the rest of us has been waiting for red panty night.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
