Conor McGregor took to social media to make the announcement. He told subscribers that he would return to the octagon very soon and in 2024 fans would finally be able to see the fight of the legendary fighter.
McGregor was tight-lipped. “The greatest comeback in the history of sports,” — this is how he commented on his imminent return to the ring, but did not reveal the name of the opponent or the date of the new fight, promising that he would do it on New Year’s Eve — December 31. Therefore, fans can only wait and hope that McGregor will be chosen a worthy opponent, and not a little-known newcomer or a downed pilot.
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However, given that McGregor has not been in the ring for a long time, he has probably lost his form, so pitting him against a strong opponent would be reckless. The charismatic Irishman has not shown a high level for a long time, and he had no practice, so there is no talk of strong opponents.
McGregor had his last fight in the summer of 2021, losing to American Dustin Poirier by technical knockout. The Irishman suffered a broken leg, from which he recovered for a very long time.
However, rumors about his return have been circulating for a long time. McGregor has been asking to get into the ring for a long time, but for many months this was impossible due to doping restrictions. The commissions needed to make sure that the athlete did not use anything prohibited that would give him an advantage over other fighters.
The drama with the anti-doping agency has been going on for a long time, which has caused great dissatisfaction with McGregor. He believes that he is being deliberately deprived of his livelihood by limiting his ability to fight.
It has come to the point that on January 1, 2024, the UFC’s cooperation with USADA (anti-doping agency) will be terminated due to the MMA promotion’s policy towards Conor McGregor. The Irishman, who hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in a trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, was planning to fight this December.
The first big step for this was Conor’s return to the USADA testing pool — from which he was excluded while in the process of recovering from injury. But at the same time, it became known that the agency refused to renew the contract with the UFC due to the fact that the promotion was going to make an exception for McGregor.
According to USADA rules, Conor McGregor can fight no earlier than April 2024, however, given the break in the agreement, the chances are high that his fight will take place much earlier.