Conor McGregor only sees gold in his future if he comes back to compete.
The former two-division champion has made it clear that he plans to compete on the upcoming UFC White House card in June, and while there is still a lot of work to be done before the card is official, McGregor is certain he will be there. At some point, he hopes to face welterweight champion Islam Makhachev for a chance to win a third-division belt.
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“I’m very motivated,” McGregor told Bloody Elbow when asked how interested he was in a Makhachev fight. “I’m very motivated and I certainly want to make a breakthrough at this belt. I certainly want to make a breakthrough at the 170-pound belt to fight for the Triple Crown.”
Makhachev is waiting for his next challenger, although pitting him against McGregor would be a stunning promotional move for the UFC given his mainstream popularity. The welterweight king is currently ranked No. 1 in MMA Fighting’s pound-for-pound rankings, while McGregor, 37, has not fought since 2021, nearly six years since his last win.
Makhachev and McGregor have a history, with Makhachev’s mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov and McGregor having a long-running feud that ended with Nurmagomedov defeating McGregor at UFC 229 and Nurmagomedov instigating a post-fight brawl that resulted in the fighter and several of their teammates receiving fines and suspensions.
McGregor recently watched Makhachev make the successful jump from lightweight to welterweight by defeating champion Jake De La Maddalena at UFC 322, and he was impressed with what he saw.
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“It would be a good fight, a good contest,” McGregor said of a possible showdown with Makhachev. “Southpaw, southpaw. He’s doing well and fair play to him and he has the guts to do it and keep going. So, yeah, I’m excited about it and let’s see what happens. Let’s get back in the game.
McGregor’s return has long been linked to lightweight veteran Michael Chandler. The two served as each other’s coaches ultimate warrior 31 He was then booked to compete in a welterweight bout at UFC 303 in June 2024, but McGregor withdrew due to a toe injury.
He is open to rescheduling the fight with Chandler but believes the UFC will bring him the right opponent.
“I don’t say no to anybody,” McGregor said. “The UFC will make a decision and I don’t care, I just want to come back. I’m just eager to come back and show my stuff.”
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One thing McGregor is sure of is that he will be fighting in the White House next year. A date for the historic event has yet to be set, and UFC CEO Dana White has said multiple times that they haven’t reached the matching stage of the card yet, so McGregor, like everyone else on the roster, is waiting for a call.
“The White House is taking action,” McGregor said. “We’re just waiting for full confirmation. I think around February they’ll contact us and we’ll do contract negotiations and pairing orders, that’s what they’ve said. So I’m just getting ready in the gym, twice a day.”