Conor McGregor’s UFC return IS on as the Irishman insists he is in training for Michael Chandler

Conor McGregor has hinted that he will be fighting soon despite reports suggesting otherwise.

Notorious is still yet to re-enroll in the USADA drug testing pool and recently missed the deadline to stage his upcoming fight with Michael Chandler this year.

The final UFC pay-per-view event of 2023 is pencilled in for December 16, so McGregor would have to of made himself available for testing by June 16 in order to complete the mandatory six months of random drug tests to be cleared to compete.

However, McGregor still hasn’t been added to USADA’s online database. In fact, he hasn’t be on there since the third quarter of 2021.

Yet McGregor affirms he is ‘well in preparation’ for his upcoming fight, which suggests he could be back in action this year.

McGregor and Chandler were set to square off this year after their Ultimate Fighter season 

The UFC can grant USADA exemptions in ‘exceptional circumstances’ although it is rare

He tweeted:  ‘I look forward to my upcoming fight. I am well in preparation.’ Chandler is also under the impression that he will be fighting McGregor in 2023.

‘I think Conor’s coming back’, Chandler said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. ‘I don’t think he wants to stain his legacy by leading us all down this road of, 

‘I’m doing the Ultimate Fighter, I’m fighting Michael Chandler – Oh, by the way, never mind. I’m not coming back.

‘Supposedly there was a countdown with USADA, six months, and all that other stuff. That’s not for me to choose or decide.

‘Have there been exemptions before? People are talking about exemptions. Of course, that’s all on the table.

‘All I know is I’m controlling the controllables, and either way, I’m gonna keep on moving forward.

‘And I do believe I fight Conor within the next six months, and it’s going to be one of the biggest pay-per-views that we have ever seen, and I’m gonna go out there and knock him out within the first two rounds.’

The UFC can grant exemptions for fighters in ‘exceptional circumstances’ or where the ‘strict application of the six month rule would be manifestly unfair to an athlete’.

This was last exercised when Brock Lesnar made his return to the UFC in 2016 against Mark Hunt.

The WWE superstar would go on to test positive for the banned substance clomiphene in a post-fight drug test.