Dana White has thrown cold water on Conor McGregor’s claims that the date for his clash with Michael Chandler has been finalized.
The UFC boss was as confused as anyone when Notorious shared a photo of himself taking on a Teletubby to confirm his long-awaited return to the Octagon.
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McGregor has been out of action since fracturing his tibia and fibula during his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.
Former three-time Bellator lightweight champion Chandler has been considered the Irishman’s return opponent for over a year.
The two were rival coaches on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter with an idea to pitch late last year, but months later the fight date still hasn’t been officially confirmed.
McGregor claimed he would face Chandler on June 29 – the date of UFC 303 – which he double-crossed just minutes before the UFC 300 ceremonial weigh-ins.
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The 35-year-old shared a bizarre photo on Instagram of himself battling a yellow Teletubby in front of a brick wall.
He captioned the post: “The fight is on!
“McGregor vs. Chandler! See you on the date I said.”
However, UFC chief White downplayed the allegations in an announcement at the Power Slap 7 post-event press conference.
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After being asked about McGregor headlining UFC 303 during International Fight Week, White responded: “I saw the post.
“I don’t know what Teletubby means, but it could be. I hope that’s what we want to do.”
The 54-year-old added: “I can honestly sit here and tell you that we haven’t made a deal for the Conor fight.
“I know there are a lot of rumors and people are expecting the place to go dark and some big fucking announcement.
“They expect them to go away. It’s just internet bullshit.”
McGregor recently ended retirement talk amid his longest wait between fights since his UFC debut in 2013.
The former two-division champion had suffered a remarkable lack of damage prior to his broken leg during his 28-fight (22-6) MMA career.
He’s only been stopped via strikes once (his second fight with Poirier in 2021), with his other losses all coming via submission.
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