According to Conor McGregor and Dana White, the UFC‘s star has been retired since earlier this summer. Or at least that’s what they’ve been telling everyone over the past couple of months. Nobody actually believed that to be true.
White has publicly said over and over that the UFC wasn’t even talking with McGregor since he was retired. However, recently, McGregor’s name has been in the media due to a new round of sexual allegations. Allegations that he’s vigorously denied.
This morning on SportsCenter, Dana White did talk about Conor McGregor. However, instead of saying that he’s retired, White had changed his tune regarding the Irishman’s status with the promotion.
White also said they are working on some “fun stuff” for Conor McGregor and he is hopeful he’ll return in early 2021.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 17, 2020
The UFC’s Plan for McGregor
As you can see, the UFC is fully planning on Conor McGregor returning to the octagon. If he returns in early 2021, it would have been another year long layoff for the UFC‘s former two division champion. McGregor had said he wanted 2020 to be his comeback season.
That of course was derailed. Back at UFC 246, McGregor started the year with a dominant victory over Donald Cerrone. McGregor finished Cerrone in under a minute, looking better than ever. He said in his post-fight interview that any of these mouthy fools can get it.
However, a pandemic really through off the UFC‘s plans. McGregor was desperate to fight and spent months calling people out. With the UFC encouraging him to sit on the sidelines and wait for a title shot, McGregor decided to retire from the sport (again).
Now, it appears that the UFC is gearing up for McGregor’s return next year. My guess is that there’s a very real chance he could face the winner of the main event at UFC 254. Or perhaps he could fight newly signed Michael Chandler? Either way, the promotion is currently working on something for their superstar.