Irish MMA megastar Conor McGregor has roasted the UFC for their indecision to book him a fight. “The Notorious” was ringside for “the Day of Reckoning” in Riyadh on December 23, where he vented about his inactivity:
“The Mac has loads to offer and loads to deliver,” McGregor ranted to TalkSport. “They’re talking Manny [Pacquiao] here in Saudi [Arabia] — The lads in the UFC aren’t really talking [about anything!]
“I’m sitting here useless… Give me something, I was supposed to be back in April [UFC 300] — it was supposed to be December [2022]!”
“The Notorious” took the chance to voice his frustration about the UFC:
“They’ve never treated anyone [like me], for all the figures I’ve brought in this game… I sell more than everyone’s been buying!” McGregor remarked. “No one in the history of the fight game has been treated the way I’m getting treated at this minute – They should open the floodgates for me. I’m waiting, my patience is wearing thin.”
McGregor officially reentered the USADA testing pool back in October, according to the USADA database. The USADA athlete handbook alleges that athletes coming back from retirement need to wait in the testing pool for six months or provide two clean tests.
If we go by McGregor’s alleged sample submission on October 5, 2023, a return for “The Notorious” is estimated to be April 5 by the earliest, which is just in time for UFC 300 on April 13. However, with McGregor’s recent remarks, it doesn’t seem likely.
McGregor’s head coach John Kavanaugh also remarks that McGregor is poised towards a Summer 2024 return, not April:
“We were hoping for April,” Kavanagh explained to Ariel Helwani. “That was the hope, that was what we were told, and then now it seems to be the summertime…Do we really need him for UFC 300? That’s gonna be such a massive event. Are they holding him back for International Fight Week? I don’t really know.” (h/t Sports Illustrated)
Fight fans may have to wait a little while longer for McGregor to return.
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