Conor McGregor has made a specific demand to the UFC ahead of his comeback fight against Michael Chandler, which is expected to take place this summer.
Reiterating his plans for a much-awaited comeback to the Octagon this summer, former UFC champion Conor McGregor has proposed a three-round fight against adversary Michael Chandler for his return match, aiming to ease back into competition after a three-year hiatus from mixed martial arts.
McGregor, who has previously held the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles, has not competed since headlining UFC 264 in 2021, where he sustained a fracture to his left tibia and fibula resulting in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier due to a doctor’s stoppage in the first round.
Earlier this week, McGregor stated that UFC officials have green-lighted his summer comeback, choosing Chandler, a former lightweight title contender and opponent from Ultimate Fighter 31, for McGregor’s first fight following his severe leg injury.
Considering which weight class to enter for his return — despite earlier suggestions of competing at the middleweight limit against Chandler — the Dublin-born striker has expressed a preference for a shorter, three-round match with the Kill Cliff FC fighter, as opposed to a traditional five-round bout, as part of his strategy to gradually reintegrate into fighting in the Octagon.
“I’m coming in here, years out of the game. Now, I’m sparring and fighting, and I feel good and sharp, but I’m gonna have to, you know, get my in-league sharpness. And that’s gonna have to come through the thing,” McGregor told MMA Fighting.
“The weight and all has not been discussed, I know had the little joke, the little buzz [with Chandler]. To be honest, I haven’t even f*cking checked the – I haven’t jumped on a weighing scale since the fight – the last fight, since I weighed in on the last fight. I did not touch a scale. And then, rounds. Maybe I might say to them [the UFC], ‘Look, I’m just doing three rounds, lads, for this one. And I wanna just wet me beak’. I’ll do three rounds really nicely now, rather than pushing through to get to five.”