Conor McGregor takes another step towards Michael Chandler UFC comeback fight

24 January 2024 , 08:35

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Conor McGregor takes another step towards Michael Chandler UFC comeback fight

Conor McGregor has been drug tested twice as part of the UFC's new anti-doping programme ahead of his comeback fight.

McGregor is expected to make his long-awaited UFC return this year against Michael Chandler after coaching against his rival on season 31 of reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter. The Irishman's return was delayed by his absence from the USADA testing pool, but he re-entered the pool last October and later submitted three negative samples.

The UFC partnered with USADA in 2015 but their relationship came to an ugly split at the end of last year, with McGregor finding himself at the centre of it because of his un-enrollment after breaking his leg. McGregor has now provided two samples to Drug Free Sport, the UFC's new drug testing programme that began overseeing fighters at the start of this year.

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McGregor announced his comeback fight against Chandler will take place on June 29 to headline the UFC's International Fight Week. His claim has since been dismissed by UFC boss Dana White who said: “Uh, no. When Conor is ready to fight, you know we’ll announce it. That’s what we’ll do.”

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Chandler, who hasn't fought since November 2022, was drug tested four times by USADA last year but has not yet been tested by the UFC's new programme. The American is waiting patiently for his shot at McGregor and he plans to take his frustrations out on the former two-weight champion by sending him into retirement when they fight.

"I finish Conor within the first two rounds and after that, probably end his career,” Chandler said on his YouTube channel. “There’s just so much more than what people think about on the surface level. I want battlegrounds of epic proportions, I want to stand in the cage with that man, I want to break that man’s will, I want to break his jaw.

"The weight class does not matter, we are two guys that weigh the same. The size of us is very similar, so it doesn't matter whether we are cutting down because we are the same weight. I want to separate him from consciousness, completely flatline him inside the octagon, and then we say farewell to the sport’s biggest star. Then we can go about our merry way."

Harry Davies