Dana White denies having a date in mind for Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, still hopes for 2024
Dana White still isn’t ready to speculate on when the long awaited fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler might actually happen.
This past weekend, McGregor responded to a message from Chandler and said he spoke to the UFC CEO about rescheduling the fight, which was originally supposed to happen at UFC 303 in June. The fight was scrapped after McGregor suffered a broken pinky toe in training that forced him off the card.
“I talked to Dana today about our new date, all looking good! 24’ for sure,” McGregor wrote.
I talked to Dana today about our new date, all looking good! 24’ for sure
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 14, 2024
On Monday, White confirmed that McGregor had texted him after an assassination attempt was made against former president Donald Trump, but he didn’t hint at an actual conversation regarding the fight booking.
Ever since McGregor suffered the injury that delayed the fight past UFC 303, White has insisted that he’s not going to speculate or announce anything until he knows that the Irish superstar is healthy and ready to compete again.
“As of sitting here right here, right now, no, I don’t have a date for it or a plan or anything like that,” White told The Pat McAfee Show. “Obviously, me, the fans, and ESPN would love it to happen in [2024], but we’ll see what happens.”
McGregor hasn’t fought in over three years with his last appearance coming in 2021 when he suffered a gruesome broken leg at the end of the opening round in his trilogy against Dustin Poirier.
He was eventually matched up with Chandler as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter but the reality show came and went without a fight between them actually being scheduled.
McGregor continued teasing his timeline to return before eventually announcing plans to fight at UFC 303, which was scheduled at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 29. Everything was moving ahead as scheduled until a planned press conference in Ireland was suddenly cancelled at the last minute.
It was later revealed that McGregor suffered an injury in training and he would no longer compete in June.
The UFC calendar is already set for the remainder of the year with UFC 304 in England, UFC 305 in Australia and UFC 306 set as Noche UFC in Las Vegas. UFC 307 is tentatively planned for early October with rumors swirling around a potential landing spot in Utah followed by UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi later that same month. As of now, UFC 309 is expected in New York in November and then UFC 310 would close out the year in December.
Based on that schedule and the current lineup of fights, the date in December would mostly likely serve as the best possible landing spot for McGregor but again nothing has been determined yet.
“That’s the fight that needs to happen,” White said about McGregor vs. Chandler. “We’ve been waiting for it. It’s an awesome fight, it’s a fun fight.”