Conor McGregor (image via UFC / YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Although Conor McGregor recently insisted he’s ready to fight this year, UFC President Dana White isn’t walking back his contention the polarizing star will not compete in 2024.

Earlier in the week, White told media that McGregor will not fight this year, which prompted the former champ to state otherwise via social media. In a follow-up interview with Sportsnet, however, White repeated that he doesn’t see McGregor returning in 2024 (quotes via MMA Fighting.com).

“I don’t know what Chandler’s planning on doing. I know he’s kind of kicking around right now. You know, you can imagine after I said that, Conor was blowing me up, going, ‘I’ll definitely fight this year.’ When we get to a point where we’re setting a fight and I believe that a Conor McGregor fight is going to happen, I will announce it.

“As of right now, I believe that Conor will not fight this year. Conor’s saying he wants to fight, he wants to fight in December. We’ll see how it plays out.”

After months of speculation as to if and when McGregor would fight again, he was finally booked to battle Michael Chandler in June. A broken toe for McGregor cancelled the booking.

The 36-year-old McGregor (22-6) hasn’t fought since July, 2021, when he broke his leg in a bout with Dustin Poirier.