Conor McGregor will NOT return to the UFC in 2023 as schedule released

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Conor McGregor will NOT return to the UFC in 2023 after the year’s remaining fights were confirmed by Dana White… but the Irish star is expected to return to the Octagon in 2024

  • Conor McGregor will not return to the UFC in 2023 as the schedule is released
  • Dana White previously said the star is expected back in the Octagon next year 
  • Leon Edwards will defend his UFC welterweight crown against Colby Covington 

Conor McGregor will not return to the UFC in 2023, after the year’s remaining schedule was confirmed by the franchise’s CEO Dana White. 

The Irishman McGregor, 34, has not fought since July 2021, when he lost in the first round against Dustin Poirier after suffering a serious leg break.

However, he has been teasing the prospect of a comeback before the end of the calendar year, but missed the window to re-enroll in the USADA drug testing pool back in July, which made a return difficult.

The schedule has been released without McGregor’s name, with Leon Edwards defending his UFC welterweight crown against Colby Covington among the pick of the fights remaining in 2023.  

Last week, White told TV host Piers Morgan: ‘He [McGregor] is back in the gym. He is training and yes, I expect to see Conor fighting next year’.

Conor McGregor will not return to the UFC in 2023 after this year’s schedule was confirmed

UFC CEO Dana White, right, previously said he expects to see McGregor return next year

White added that McGregor had earned ‘a certain level of money’ that meant that priorities shifted, away from the way athletes focus when they’re ‘coming up’ and working hard to dedicate themselves to their athletic discipline. 

White said: ‘There were a lot of people that made a lot of money, and a lot of people left and they went and retired or moved on. 

‘You have to have a certain type of drive to make that kind of money. And you have seen guys in this sport, when they make that kind of money, they will fight a lot less, like Conor has, or they go on losing streaks because you are not that same person once you get that kind of money’.

McGregor is a coach on this year’s series of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, and there were some expectations that ‘Notorious’ would face off against rival coach Michael Chandler once the show ended for the year.

It was thought McGregor would take on rival ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ coach Michael Chandler (R)

In 2021, McGregor was named as the highest-paid athlete in the world by Forbes after earning £144m ($180m) in a calendar year, before the leg injury halted his professional career. 

Since then, the Irish fighter has been pushing himself, putting on 34lb (two-and-a-half stone) of muscle in six months after that injury. 

UFC 295 in New York in November sees Jon Jones defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic, with Jiri Prochazka against Alex Pereira in the co-main event.

UFC 296 in Las Vegas in December sees Leon Edwards defend his welterweight crown against Colby Covington, nine months after defending his title in London in March. They will headline the co-main event alongside flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and aspiring hopeful Brandon Royval. 

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