Fans welcome confirmation of Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to UFC after three years… as Dana White announces Notorious’ showdown with Michael Chandler

Fans have welcomed Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return after Dana White confirmed the UFC legend would fight Michael Chandler later this year.

The UFC president officially announced that the two men will finally face off on pay-per-view on June 29.

The matchup will be contested at 170 pounds and will be a five-round main event.

The blank confirmation of McGregor’s fight with Chandler at UFC 303 ends months of speculation about when the showdown would take place.

The two have been scheduled to face off inside the Octagon for months and even coached against each other on The Ultimate Fighter TV show.

Fans have welcomed the confirmation of McGregor’s return, with Notorious having been out of the Octagon for three years.

UFC fans welcomed confirmation of Conor McGregor’s return at the end of UFC 300

The fight was announced by White during a press conference after UFC 300, which featured a packed card to mark the milestone event.

Fans have hailed UFC 300 as the event that “keeps on giving” after McGregor’s return was confirmed.

“They just announced McGregor vs. Chandler for 303. This is the best night ever,” one fan said.

“300 is truly the gift that keeps on giving,” added another.

“The Notorious is finally back,” posted a third, while one fan claimed the UFC “outperformed all of boxing overnight.”

Some fans have already begun to question whether McGregor or Chandler would triumph, with one insisting the former would “win easily” upon his return.

Fans have welcomed McGregor’s long-awaited return after his three-year absence from the UFC.

UFC President Dana White confirmed McGregor’s return during a press conference.

A fan wondered why McGregor’s return couldn’t have been revealed in a promo

The decision to announce McGregor’s long-awaited return at a press conference, rather than in a promotional video during the UFC, was questioned by some.

“Why don’t they do a promo during UFC 300 to announce this fight rather than just casually throwing it in like a post-fight presser,” one fan wrote.

When asked why the fight had been in the works for so long, White revealed that McGregor had only recently been able to train for his return to the Octagon.

“It’s not that we’ve been working on this for ages,” White said at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference. “There’s all kinds of stuff going on behind the scenes.

“It’s all about timing. Chandler was ready but Conor wasn’t. We talked about it recently at a press conference, he had a lot of obligations that he had to face.

“What you don’t want him to do is accept a fight when he has a ton of obligations and can’t train 100 percent for a fight.”

After becoming a two-weight world champion in Cage Warriors, McGregor signed with the UFC in 2013 and embarked on a dominant run in the featherweight division, reeling off five straight victories before defeating Chad Mendes to win the title featherweight interim.

McGregor’s final fight at 145 pounds saw him dethrone long-time reigning champion Jose Aldo in stunning fashion after just 13 seconds to unify the belts.

McGregor and Michael Chandler will fight at 170 pounds and in a five-round main event

Since then, the Irishman has competed at 155 and 170 pounds, defeating Eddie Alvarez in the former to become the UFC’s first-ever simultaneous two-weight world champion.

McGregor has been out of action in the UFC for nearly three hours following a number of setbacks for various reasons.

The Irishman has not fought since fracturing his tibia in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

After recovering from his injury, McGregor began campaigning for a return fight while taking time to work on other projects, such as the film Road House.