Robbie Lawler finished his MMA career on a high. Things couldn’t have gotten better for the legendary fighter after finishing off Niko Price in the first round with a knockout. Following the retirement news, Conor McGregor paid tribute to ‘Ruthless’ with a message about his potential return to the UFC.

The fight with Niko Price was Lawler’s last, so he came into the event with no regrets. There aren’t many fighters who get to ride away on a victory. As it turned out, ‘Ruthless’ caught ‘The Hybrid’ early with a right hand and then boxed him up in the clinch to finish off Niko Price. Even Conor McGregor paid his respects to the retired fighter.

Conor McGregor pays tribute to Robbie Lawler, hinting at his return

As soon ‘The Ruthless’ retired and signed off on his UFC career, Conor McGregor took to Twitter to share a message with his fans while showing his respect for Robbie Lawler. He wrote, “Back by the end of the year.” Amidst the USADA fiasco, ‘Notorious’ has assured that he will return to the Octagon by the end of the year.

The Irishman has been away from the fight game for almost two years. Fans are yearning to see him fight again. However, his not enlisting in the USADA’s testing pool has made people doubt if he’ll ever return to fight this year. However, he has kept the 2023 return alive. Even Dana White is pretty sure about McGregor’s fight with Michael Chandler taking place by the end of this year.

Dana White isn’t worried about USADA

In a recent interview, the UFC president confirmed that McGregor will “100 percent” fight this year. He disregarded what USADA had to say about the Irishman’s absence from their testing pool, which was supposed to be six months before the fight. Moreover, he also refrained from making any more comments before things are finalized.

Furthermore, White is uncertain about the Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler fight. He is unsure about how that will play out even though he’s confident about his 2023 return. In light of this, McGregor’s eligibility to compete this year remains uncertain as well as his status in the USADA pool.

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Even if Dana White was confident about ‘Notorious’ 2023 return, he did not provide any timeline as to when he’ll fight. He’s waiting for some concrete developments on the issue, as it has become one of the biggest talks in MMA. We will have to wait and see how things pan out in the days to come.

What do you make of McGregor’s comments on Lawler? Let us know in the comments section below.

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