Conor McGregor has dropped the bombshell of his UFC return as he seemingly confirmed plans for him to fight at the White House.
US president Donald Trump, a friend of UFC chief Dana White, said this summer that he wants to host a fight event in 2026 – to celebrate Independence Day and 250 years of the nation’s existence.
McGregor has not fought since suffering back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier in 2021, becoming notorious for his exploits out of the cage in the years that have followed, but had previously expressed a desire to compete on the card.
And after dropping out of Ireland’s presidential race last week, curtailing his time in politics for now, McGregor has appeared to turned focus back to combat ahead of the mega-event.
“The Mac is excited to be back,” he told Fox News. “I’m on it (the White House card), this is me.”
McGregor also disclosed his planned opponent for the event, reigniting hostilities with former rival Michael Chandler, who he was scheduled to fight in 2024 before McGregor broke his toe just two weeks out from fight night.
“Michael Chandler and myself,” McGregor added, speaking on who he will share the cage with. “We’ve done The Ultimate Fighter. We’ve had a good back and forth. He’s a good, tough guy.”
White added that McGregor has been locked in conversation over fighting at the White House, although did not explicitly confirm that a fight was in place for the Irishman.
“We’ll build the greatest card of all time for the White House card,” White said.
“Conor and I have been talking consistently. Conor wants this fight bad and when you get to a level Conor is at, you have to find things that motivate you and the White House card definitely motivates him.”
McGregor indicated his intention to return after reports of a White House fight inspired him to re-enter the drug-test pool.
The Irishman was once the posterboy of the MMA world, taking the sport to new heights as a former two division-champion in the UFC.
McGregor’s career has been marred by legal issues in recent years, however. In November, a civil-court jury found that the 37-year-old was liable for sexual assault in 2018. McGregor continues to deny the allegations against him but lost an appeal against the verdict in July.
