Conor McGregor appears set to return to action at UFC 300, having seemingly abided by the promotion's ruling over anti-doping.
McGregor hasn't fought since his crushing first-round TKO defeat (doctor stoppage) to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 back in July 2021.
A December comeback had been mooted, with the 'Notorious' expected to return to the famed Octagon next year.
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He's looking sharp in training ahead of returning to competition. Take a look below:
The 35-year-old won't be able to lace up the UFC gloves until he's back in the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) drug testing pool.
But McGregor is thought to be back in the drug testing pool after revealing he has been 'submitting his stuff' to USADA chief Jeff Novitzky.
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Taking to social media, he wrote: "Find my targets. Hit them. F**k the consequences.
"You’re going down. This is fighting. Sparring day with slick Nikolay Grozdev. Always a banger of a spar with the slick fella.”
Then: a massive announcement tucked into the back-end."
He added: “Submitted my stuff to Novitzky. Ball rolling. See you soon you little light work b***h.”
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Now, McGregor supposedly re-entering the USADA drug testing pool allows him to compete at the promotion's historic UFC 300 card, which is tentatively slated for April or May next year.
And an opponent is already lined up as Michael Chandler, who coached against McGregor on The Ultimate Fighter, is waiting to welcome the ex-UFC double champion back to the cage.
"The status is, unequivocally, the fight is still happening," he told Ariel Helwani.
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"The fight is not booked for a date, the fight is not booked for a venue, but the fight is booked between Chandler and Conor. "There’s no way that Conor comes back and doesn’t fight me. If Conor doesn’t fight me, he’s probably not coming back - and that’s out of my control.”
Chandler added: "I’m ready to fight in January, February, March, April, May, whenever. It makes a lot of sense that there is a very historic card coming up with the UFC.
"I haven’t been told that’s when it’s going to be, but I wouldn't be surprised if that’s when it is. If it is, I got more and more time to prepare."
McGregor vs Chandler at UFC 300? Watch this space.
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Topics: Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler, UFC
Nasir Jabbar