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Two Reasons Conor McGregor’s ‘Summer Return’ Doesn’t Look as Convincing Even After Dana White and Michael Chandler’s Confirmation

Published 03/24/2024, 1:48 AM EDT

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Conor McGregor‘s situation is grim and it’s ͏getting worse day by day. The former dual weight champion’s comeback is͏ now being questione͏d by the MMA com͏munity. McGregor has asserted that he will be returning to͏ the Octagon by the end of this summer, but according to Chael Sonnen, the likelihood of this happening seems a bit questionable.

McGregor was busy with his movie ‘Road House’, which recently hit Prime Video. With the promotion duties for the film now behind him, the UFC star seems to be focusing on his comeback. But Dana White and Co. appear to have some problems with Conor McGregor’s return. Chael Sonnen, in his latest confession, raised doubts over McGregor’s words about a summer comeback. Let’s see what the former UFC fighter had to say about it.

Chael Sonnen is not sold on Conor McGregor returning in the summer

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Conor McGregor has͏ two fights left on his contract, and one of them would ͏be his fight against Michael Chandler. However, it’s been months and there has been no confirmation by the UFC administration about the scheduling of their fight. During New Year’s Eve, McGregor͏ came forward to state that he would face Chandler during International Fight Week, but Dana White ͏was quick to dismiss the claim.

A few days ago, McGregor once again came forward to state that he would face Chandler by the end of the summer. This claim by the former dual weight champion seems to have raised concern from Chael Sonnen. ‘The American Gangster’ in one of his YouTube videos stated two reasons why he was doubtful about the happening of their fights in the summers.

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According to Sonnen, it was unusual for McGregor to state that an agent contacted him for a fight but he never revealed which agent.“First, Conor said that a couple of days prior, they got a call from an agent. I don’t know what that means. Now, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen just cause I don’t know. I don’t know what an agent… I don’t know what that means. He didn’t say “from my agent” or “my manager.” He said “an agent,” as though that was from the UFC’s side, which that chain of communication would be unusual,” said Sonnen.

“The American Gangster” further stated that despite the fight rumors, he had ͏no further information about anything. Sonnen claimed that he was not even awar͏e of the weight class in which ͏McGregor and Chandler were about to clash.“I don’t know of a time that a fight of that magnitude has been booked but not assigned a date and is absent a weight class. I’m telling you that I don’t know at this time. Fast forward to a couple of days, Dana does an interview with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo and Dana just said, ‘There’s no lack of communication, there’s no problem for Conor to do a fight.'”

Now Sonnen is not the only one with an issue with the constant contrasting statements and the delays of getting this fight booked. McGregor, too, is not too happy with the situation and his frustration was evident to those who read between the lines of a recent statement from the Irishman.

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Is ‘The Notorious’ planning to leave the UFC?

As mention͏ed ea͏rlier,  Conor McGregor has ͏two fights remaining on his UFC contract. It seems like Dana ͏White ͏is working on a new deal for the 35-year-old, but the delays are becoming unbearable for McGregor at this point. In a statement, McGregor asserted that Lorenzo Fertitta would have signed him if he had been at the helm of the promotion.

“I’m sure they are thinking about it. You know, Lorenzo probably would have been at my door two fights ago, maybe to re-sign me. So, I don’t know what way they are going to do. Fair enough. If we’re having two fights in the contract, we gotta do something else. Or do we? I don’t know, man. Surely, nobody brings the figures I bring. Ever. You see, all of these things will, I’m sure, work out and be ironed out with my management stable, Paradigm Sports, in my next phase of relations or next deal.”

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The timeline for the fight is just being delayed due to unnecessary reasons and even the MMA community is aware of it. Nonetheless, what’s your take on Conor McGregor’s comeback? Will he be able to fight this year? State your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Suryakant Das

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Suryakant Das is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His fascination with combat sports was sparked by gleeful moments he shared with his father watching wrestling. An ardent fan of UFC star Charles Oliveira, Surya closely follows the sport and keeps tabs on behind-the-scenes action.
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Edited by:

Yeswanth Praveen