Bring it on.
After 15 months away from the Octagon, it’s safe to say we’re ready for Conor McGregor to make his return. We’ve known for some time that, following his unsuccessful foray into boxing against Floyd Mayweather last summer, McGregor would make his MMA return in 2018 – but it turns out that we may be seeing him more than once.
According to MMA Fighting’s Dave Meltzer, McGregor is closing in on a deal that would see him fight twice this year.
McGregor is in danger of being stripped of his lightweight title due to a prolonged period of inactivity, with Dana White suggesting that Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight for the belt at UFC 223 in April.
Meltzer claims that McGregor is edging closer to agreeing a deal that will see him compete twice, which is obviously fantastic news. The next step will be the confirmation of McGregor’s return and, of course, his opponent.
Exciting https://t.co/iGK8IeYejA
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 15, 2018
The Dubliner’s coach, John Kavanagh, recently talked up the possibility of a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz, although the more likely scenario seems to be McGregor taking on the winner of Tony Ferguson v Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I don’t think it would be quite right for that to happen before the winner of Nate-Tony because Conor, Nate and Tony have all kept busy,” Kavanagh said. Â
“Nate hasn’t. So I think Nate should get one in, in the meantime. Him and Woodley, I hear there’s rumours of that. Or him against a good lightweight. If the MMA Gods smile, it would be a victory for him – Conor fight the winner of them and you’ve got this amazing superfight for… New Year’s Eve (laughs).”
With that bout taking place on April 7, we’re hoping to get some official news about it in the next few weeks.
