While Conor McGregor believes he’s about to make his second UFC comeback, Dana White doesn’t sound too convinced about the Irishman’s plans. After a FaceTime call with ‘The Notorious,’ the UFC boss addressed the media at the Zuffa Boxing 9 post-fight press conference and provided a major update on Conor McGregor. And according to what he suggested, the former UFC double champion’s timeline and the UFC’s do not seem to be on the same page.

“I have no idea,” Dana White said when asked about Conor McGregor’s return date. “We had him on FaceTime tonight ringside, but, you know, Conor McGregor’s out for a year.”

The massive update comes just weeks after ‘The Notorious’ tore his ACL in the UFC 329 rematch against Max Holloway. Conor McGregor’s dream return lasted only 69 seconds before his unexpected injury brought the bout to an abrupt end, adding another setback after his previous leg break against Dustin Poirier already kept him out of the fight game for five long years.

McGregor has already undergone surgery and faces another lengthy road to recovery. And while head honcho Dana White’s latest comments provide the clearest update on the UFC’s current situation, they’re also a noticeable change from what the UFC boss was saying just a few days ago.

After all, it was just last week that Dana White stated he wasn’t even sure ‘The Notorious’ would even fight again. He explained that the former two-division champ needed to recover from surgery before deciding if he still wanted to be a part of the fight game.

“McGregor has to have knee surgery,” he told TMZ Sports. “Then he’s gonna have to go through physical therapy, and a doctor’s gonna have to give him a sign-off on when he can start training hard again. He’s got a lot of things to figure out in his head, in his life, before he starts thinking about boxing or UFC again.”

“It’s gonna be a long comeback for him if he decides that’s what he wants to do,” he added. “He’s got a lot of soul-searching [to do], find that fire that he used to have, and we’ll see how that plays out.”

The UFC CEO also advised fans to stop speculating about Conor McGregor’s next opponent or a trilogy fight with Max Holloway, stressing that the recovery process alone would take a long time.

Despite another injury setback, Conor McGregor remains one of the UFC’s biggest ever draws. UFC 329 attracted big numbers in terms of in-arena crowd and overall viewership, proving that fans are still willing to see ‘The Notorious’ fight irrespective of how inactive he has been in recent years.

It is also worth noting that Dana White’s blunt timeline prediction not only contradicts his earlier comments but also Conor McGregor’s own recovery target that many fight fans believe is too optimistic.

Dana White’s timeline goes against Conor McGregor’s return expectations

A few days ago, the former UFC double champion confessed that in his fight against Holloway, he ended up tearing both his ACL and meniscus. However, they’re the very same injuries he suffered in his first fight against Max Holloway more than a decade ago.

So, despite the serious diagnosis, ‘The Notorious’ believes he can recover much faster than the UFC head honcho expects. Conor McGregor is confident that with modern rehab methods, he will be back in fighting form even before the one-year timeline the UFC CEO dropped.

“Update: it was ACL and meniscus,” Conor McGregor wrote on X. “It is the same injury as the first Holloway fight, only this time the opposite leg. Quite shocking.

“I returned to competition within nine months to fight Diego Brandao back then. With today’s regenerative medicine advancements and improved training methods, it is well within my realm to return by next summer.”

The Irishman also revealed that his recovery has already started on a positive note.

“I am walking without a crutch,” he added. “I done leg extension machine work the other day to no issue. So I can walk without aid and activate my quad under resistance.”

For now, Dana White appears to be taking a more cautious approach, while Conor McGregor is determined to accelerate his recovery. Whether he returns in nine months or a full year, the UFC’s biggest star is once again facing a long road back to the Octagon.