Having not fought since 2021, fans are hoping that 2025 could finally be the year that Conor McGregor returns to the Octagon. Speculation surrounding a potential Conor McGregor UFC return is hotting up. “The Notorious” hasn’t had an official fight in the UFC since his 2021 rematch against Dustin Poirier, which saw McGregor lose again and also experience a nasty leg break. In the years since then, there’s been controversy, confusion, and several canceled fights, with McGregor’s latest cancelation being his face-off against Michael Chandler, originally set to take place at UFC 303. This has left everyone in the UFC world wondering whether McGregor will ever fight again, as getting him back into the Octagon is proving an impossible task. At 36 years old, has the opportunity for a potential comeback slipped away from McGregor or is a UFC comeback still a realistic possibility? Conor McGregor 2025 UFC Comeback: Everything We Know So Far In August 2024, Dana White officially confirmed that Conor McGregor “wants to fight” but that he “won’t fight this year”. White was speaking at a press conference after the season premier of Dana White’s Contender Series, where he fielded questions regarding McGregor, week 1 of DWCS, and more. For McGregor fans, this sadly means that the UFC icon will not be featuring in the UFC’s Fall 2024 schedule — but there could still be hope for a Conor McGregor comeback yet. Now that it’s been confirmed McGregor's return fight won’t be happening in 2024, all of the attention has now shifted to 2025. Following Dana White’s recent comments, all signs point to McGregor making a shock return at some stage in 2025. This will likely be at the midpoint of the year, as it will give McGregor enough time to complete a healthy training camp and also find a suitable opponent. As was originally planned for UFC 303, this opponent could still be Michael Chandler, although the more likely outcome is that McGregor looks for a new opportunity. After all, it’s the UFC, where fight schedules can change extremely quickly. Regarding his long-awaited comeback, McGregor has gone on record countless times confirming that he’s desperate to get back into the Octagon. Earlier in the year while promoting his 2024 movie Road House, McGregor said: “I’m looking forward to getting back and regressing, resetting and recalibrating and remapping my return to the octagon. I’m eager for that. We’re in the first quarter of 2024. There’s still a good chunk of the year left.” Why Was McGregor vs Chandler (UFC 303) Called Off? McGregor vs Chandler was set to headline UFC 303 (June 2024) in Las Vegas . However, the fight was sadly called off due to McGregor suffering a broken toe during his training camp, leaving his team with no option but to cancel the fight. When asked about this, Dana White confirmed that the injury was “absolutely real” following strong rumors that McGregor was actually in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. However, McGregor has since shared an image of his injured toe, confirming that the injury was indeed genuine. Heading into the fight with Chandler, sports betting website minimumdepositbettingsites.com , the experts on low deposit betting, reported that McGregor (-109) was the marginal favorite to beat Chandler (-118). Despite the fact that McGregor is currently on a 2-fight losing streak, having lost back-to-back bouts with Dustin Poirier, most sportsbooks opted to list him as the favorite, although the odds were extremely tight. But if the fight is to happen in 2025, there’s a strong possibility that Chandler will be listed as the favorite this time following McGregor’s recent injury woes and reported substance abuse problems. McGregor Can Beat Chandler — But Only If He Remains Healthy If the McGregor vs Chandler fight is to ever happen, the chances of the Irishman winning are still relatively high. It will largely depend on whether McGregor still has the “big-fight ability” that helped skyrocket him to the top of the UFC to begin with, as many fans now believe that McGregor’s time has passed. However, Chandler himself hasn’t fought since 2022 and isn’t capable of beating anyone in the UFC’s top 10, so there’s a realistic possibility that McGregor could still come out on top, especially if he can maintain an excellent training camp in the months building up to it. Naturally, McGregor also has a big point to prove to the critics, too, so you can expect him to be fired up heading into 2025 and beyond. The Possibility of Another McGregor Retirement Over the past decade, Conor McGregor has retired four times from the UFC. However, he has subsequently announced his return following each retirement and even posted a comment on X in 2023 saying “I’m never retiring.” As of right now, McGregor is officially unretired and seems intent on fighting again in 2025. If one thing is for certain, it’s that McGregor will fight again, whether it’s in 2025 or even 2026. The legendary MMA fighter doesn’t want the leg-break loss against Dustin Poirier to go down in history as his last fight, so you can fully expect McGregor to return to the Octagon within the next two years provided he can remain injury-free and healthy. How Many Fights Are Left on Conor McGregor’s UFC Contract? Despite the constant rumors and speculation surrounding McGregor’s UFC future, some fans are unaware that McGregor is still officially signed to the UFC. And because his existing contract has two fights remaining on it, it makes his long-awaited comeback all the more likely, especially considering the fact that both Conor McGregor and Dana White are eager to make it happen. Earlier this year, McGregor and the UFC were also negotiating a new contract with each other to include additional fights — and it’s fair to say that McGregor wouldn’t be doing this unless he was absolutely intent on a comeback. Summary Now that Dana White has officially confirmed that Conor McGregor will not be fighting in the UFC in 2024, you can fully expect “The Notorious” to make his comeback in 2025 to huge PPV sales. This is something that the UFC world will find out more about towards the end of the year, when it’s highly likely that some type of fight announcement will be made by Dana White or Conor McGregor himself. Even if a comeback fight is announced for 2025, though, there’s a lot riding on whether McGregor will be able to stay injury-free and maintain a healthy lifestyle away from the sport. Otherwise, it will likely lead to yet another fight cancellation, which no fan of McGregor (or the UFC) wants to see happen again.