Conor McGregor drops biggest return hint yet on Instagram days after Dana White update
Conor McGregor is keen to return to the UFC before the end of the year and has dropped his strongest hint yet that he’ll soon be back in the Octagon.
Conor McGregor has yet again hinted he’ll return to the UFC before the end of 2019.
The promotion’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion hasn’t fought since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov last October, suffering a fourth-round submission loss to his successor at the summit of the lightweight division in the main event of UFC 229.
On multiple occasions over the last few weeks, the Irishman has suggested he’ll return to action before year’s end.
The UFC brass are keen for the 31-year-old to fight before the end of 2019, though the promotion’s president Dana White expects him to return ‘early next year’.
But McGregor has further fuelled speculation he could fight later this year by posting a video clip of him sparring on Instagram.
‘The Notorious’ posted footage of him doing some flow sparring at Straight Blast Gym Ireland to his Instagram story, 24 hours before the grand opening of the new SBG facility.
The UFC were hopeful of having McGregor return to the cage in the summer, with the promotion provisionally reserving a date at Madison Square Garden in July.
A hand injury for the Dubliner, however, laid waste to those plans and a fan-friendly fight with the in-form Justin Gaethje.
“I would say we can get that done,” he told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani when asked about a potential end-of-year return. “I could say we can get that done.
“Like I said, yesterday I spoke to a surgeon about grappling. I’m gonna begin grappling now. I’m already in shape, I have not lost my condition.
“So, I’m in shape, I just need to sharpen up the grappling, just feel how the grip feels on the wrist and things like that. But I can punch fully.
“What are we now? August. I would say so. I would look for that, yes. End of the year.”
McGregor is keen to have a rematch with the Russian, who is expected to defend his 155lb strap against Tony Ferguson in December or early next year.
With a fight against Nurmagomedov seemingly off the table at this moment in time, White believes the winner of November’s clash between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz - which headlines UFC 244 in New York - could welcome McGregor back to the cage.
"That's possible too down the road,” White said when asked about a potential rematch between Nurmagomedov and McGregor. “I think Conor would fight somebody else before that.
“The Ferguson fight would have to happen, there’s a lot of possibilities.
"To sit here now and say who is going to fight who; I don’t know until this whole thing plays out. [The] Masvidal-Diaz winner is in the mix, too.”
