Dana White Says Conor McGregor Won't Return To UFC In 2024

Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor have both responded to Dana White, after the CEO of UFC announced that McGregor would not return to the octagon in 2024.

Conor McGregor Will Not Fight In 2024

Conor McGregor’s highly anticipated return to the ring this summer was postponed after he broke his toe. The fight against Michael Chandler was supposed to be rescheduled for later this year, but Dana White has put those rumours to bed.

The UFC CEO announced this week that McGregor will not fight in 2024, despite many believing that the Irishman would return to action in December.

“We talked and he wants to fight,” White said when asked when McGregor would make his return to the UFC. “We’ll figure it out. Not this year. He won’t fight this year.”

🚨 Dana White says Conor McGregor will NOT fight this year#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/riNhpzbzn2

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 14, 2024

McGregor hasn’t fought since 2021, with the ‘Notorious’ losing back to back fights against Dustin Poirier before taking a step back from the sport at the end of the year.

The 36-year-old was clearly caught off guard by Dana White’s comments this week, taking to X to question why he wouldn’t be able to return to the octagon with training coming up next month.

“Ah Dana, December is the date! Bring the calendar year home with a winning event! Come on now, what’s this? I am off to altitude next month to prepare. DECEMBER! Tell Dana and UFC WE WANT DECEMBER! WE DESERVE DECEMBER!”

White is yet to respond to McGregor’s comments, but it seems unlikely that he will change his mind with a busy UFC schedule planned for the rest of the year.

Michael Chandler Reacts To McGregor Not Fighting

The plan was for McGregor to fight Michael Chandler on his return to the ring, but it seems the 38-year-old is happy to move on from the Irishman after he delayed their bout in June.

Ah conor, the sport will move on and thrive without you. Put to bed. Laid to rest. Soon a distant memory. You’ve vastly overestimated your importance inside of this game for almost a decade. Godspeed. https://t.co/eQ6UWhK5y1

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) August 14, 2024

From his tweet it seems that Chandler will not be fighting McGregor after all, as he looks to continue his career in the UFC while leaving the Notorious behind.

Chandler has lost three of his last four fights, with his last win coming against Tony Ferguson in 2022. Much like McGregor Chandler has been out of action for some time now, with his last bout coming against Israel Adesanya at the end of 2022.

The American has suggested recently that he would like to take on Dustin Poirier or Arman Tsarukyan next if the McGregor fight isn’t going to happen which seems likely.