The Ultimate Fighter season 31 is a weekly fixture of the UFC programming and it has been that way for more than 6 weeks now. Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler have been the rival coaches on the show and Team Chandler has dominated the show with his fighters being up on the show 6-0. But the major attraction of the show was to watch McGregor and his antics on the show.
Fans have been disappointed with even that as McGregor hasn’t had the same passion that he did during his stint at The Ultimate Fighter 22. With the show being a disappointment so far, the only thing that the fans are looking forward to is the eventual fight between “The Notorious One” and Michael Chandler. Even that might result in disappointment for the fans as McGregor is yet to register himself into the USADA testing pool.
There were reports that McGregor already had to be in the USADA pool for the bout against Michael Chandler to take place at UFC 296, the last PPV of the year. But, as the 34-year-old is currently not in the testing pool, fans are convinced that the Dublin native will not fight by the time 2023 ends. However, if UFC President Dana White is to be believed, there is a chance that the former UFC double champion fights before 2023 ends.
Although he is optimistic about Conor’s chance of fighting, even Dana White is unsure about what the USADA implications are on the fight. He added, “One hundred percent (There’s a chance Conor fights this year] … Who cares what USADA says, we’ll see what happens when it happens, so I don’t know.” (h/t via The Maclife)
Even Conor McGregor shared the story on his Instagram story to reaffirm his position on the USADA testing issue. Previously, McGregor was strictly against abiding by the USADA rules. Hence, his sharing of Dana’s comments confirms his unwillingness to comply with the rules.
Conor McGregor wants to fight Michael Chandler in 2023
Conor McGregor is in the headlines lately, however, not because of all the right reasons. In June 2023, the former UFC lightweight champion attended NBA finals game 4 between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat. After the game culminated, a woman accused Conor McGregor of r*ping her in the men’s VIP washroom. Not just that, she even accused the security guards of being involved in the incident.
But, as expected, Conor has denied all the accusations against him and his legal team used some recently surfaced videos to prove that the woman is allegedly trying to put baseless accusations on him. With all that hanging over his head, the likelihood of McGregor fighting is slim to none. However, during a recent meet-up with fans in the United States, McGregor expressed that he is very much looking forward to fighting in 2023.
What are your thoughts on the situation? Do you think Conor McGregor will fight in 2023? Let us know in the comments down below.