Conor McGregor’s highly anticipated return to the UFC has become something of a myth, with the Irish superstar repeatedly teasing fight dates that never come to fruition. Over the past three years, fans have been given nothing but false promises, leading even the most loyal supporters to question whether they will ever see ‘The Notorious’ inside the octagon again. In the midst of this, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen has reiterated that anybody believing in a McGregor comeback might as well start believing in Bigfoot.
This is not the first time Sonnen has expressed his doubts over McGregor fighting in the octagon. He, along with the likes of Rampage Jackson, has time and again claimed that the Irishman was done with active sports since he doesn’t need it financially anymore.
However, if there is to be a wild comeback in the future, Sonnen believes he has the perfect candidate.
“If Conor is going to come back to the UFC, can we agree, the appropriate opponent is Michael Chandler?”, he said.
However, he soon reverted to his previous form and asserted, “Is Conor gonna come back? Chael is saying he’s not… There’s not an opponent for Conor because there’s not gonna be any Conor.”
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The Irish fighter last competed in July 2021, suffering a gruesome leg injury in his trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier. Since then, McGregor has repeatedly hinted at a return, even coaching opposite Chandler on The Ultimate Fighter in 2023, but no fight has materialized.
So, for now, all anyone can do is wait and pray that this time, the promise of a fight isn’t just another illusion.
Interestingly, Chandler somehow believes there’s an outside chance.
Chandler can’t move on
Chandler had been scheduled to fight McGregor last summer, but the bout was scrapped when McGregor suffered a fractured toe just weeks before UFC 303. Since then, the fight has remained in limbo, with McGregor teasing it on social media and Chandler lapping it up.
Following a two-year layoff, Chandler finally returned to action last November, taking on former champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 309. Unfortunately for him, the comeback did not go as planned, as he suffered a second defeat to the Brazilian in Madison Square Garden.
Despite this, he made another callout to McGregor after the fight in hopes that the fighting gods were paying attention. That doesn’t seem to have been the case.
Now, ahead of his fight with Paddy Pimblett, Chandler sat with Ariel Helwani and acknowledged that he is losing faith in the possibility of fighting McGregor, despite holding out hope for his return.
“I don’t think he wants his legacy to be that.”, Chandler said, sounding hopeful.
But soon, the mood changed as reality dawned upon him.
“Then again, I haven’t walked a mile in that man’s shoes, so I’m not going to say what he is thinking. My heart of hearts says he’s coming back at some point, but if I was a betting man, I ain’t put money on it.”, the former Bellator lightweight champion surmised.
“My heart of heart says Conor’s got to come back to his first love… Every single thing that he has can be tied back, in some way or another, to the UFC, the opportunity that they gave him.
Does he want his legacy to be… My last fight, I broke my leg and I touted the greatest… pic.twitter.com/9SjvNtbdeS
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 24, 2025
Unfortunately, it does seem that the hopes of a McGregor return are as misplaced as faith in a cat not to slap your face. Unfortunately, nature doesn’t work that way.