Conor McGregor has been out of the Octagon for the past two years. ‘Notorious’ broke his leg in his UFC 264 loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021. And this absence has taken a toll on his mental health and wellbeing, as the former two-division UFC and CW champion revealed in a recent interview from Saudi Arabia.

The Irishman is raring to return to the Octagon and is hard at work, training for his upcoming bout against rival TUF 31 coach Michael Chandler. However, the exact timeline for this bout remains uncertain, with contradictory messages coming from McGregor’s camp itself. But in a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Michael Chandler shed some light on the subject.

Michael Chandler gives updates on Conor McGregor bout

On being asked whether he had anything new to tell the audience about his welterweight bout against Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler replied in the negative. The former Bellator champion said that while he had no concrete information, he was heartened to see ‘Notorious’ back at the gym and training hard.

“No updates, aside from the fact that we are moving in the right direction. The fact that Conor is out there training, he is posting new training footage of him being in the gym not just on the yacht… He’s actually in the gym, he’s back in the gritty training gyms that we want to see him in,” he said.

McGregor and Chandler were originally slated to fight at UFC 296 after they appeared as rival coaches on this year’s season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. However, the bout fell through most likely due to the Irishman’s non-compliance with the USADA’s rule requiring fighters to enter its testing pool at least six months before fighting.

“Obviously we wanted to fight right after TUF. That didn’t work out by the end of this year sometime this month in December, never happened,” Chandler added. The #5 ranked lightweight then congratulated McGregor and his wife on the birth of their child before revealing when their upcoming fight is likely to take place.

Early to mid 2024: Chandler on date for McGregor bout

Chandler stated that the fight would take place in early to mid 2024 and was hoping for a possible UFC 300 fixture. “But the fight’s definitely happening in early to mid 2024. And UFC 300 would be awesome. Haven’t been told that, but it sure would be awesome…A milestone card that everyone wants to be on and who better to headline it than Conor in the greatest comeback in combat sports history versus the most exciting guy on the planet” he told ESPN MMA.

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Although both UFC CEO Dana White and McGregor himself have indicated that he will fight at UFC 300, recent comments by his coach indicating a possible July date have muddied the waters. And nothing can be said for certain about when the fight will take place until an official announcement by the UFC.

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