Conor McGregor has left the door ajar for his proposed clash with Michael Chandler.
It was revealed by UFC boss Dana White late on Friday that Chandler will rematch Charles Oliveira in November, months after the UFC removed McGregor from the UFC 303 main event on the advice of physicians after McGregor sustained a foot injury late into his preparation.
The move appears to have once again delayed McGregor’s return to the Octagon but speaking to the media in Hollywood, Florida on Friday night following the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 66 event, McGregor said that he is “happy” with the date for the bout and says that he and Chandler can follow soon afterward.
“As far as Chandler rematching Oliveira, I’m happy with the date,” McGregor said, addressing the media in his capacity as BKFC part-owner.
“It’s November. Maybe we can still do it after, if they’re not going to line me up until December, maybe January or February, one of these dates. Maybe we can still do it. I’m just a bit out of the loop with it. All I can do is carry on doing what I’m doing. I test under the testing administration, I train daily, and that’s it. Let’s see what happens. Hopefully it all comes to fruition.”
McGregor also proposed a cross-promotional arrangement with the UFC, with whom he has two fights remaining on his contract.
“My opponent that I was scheduled to fight has rescheduled another bout,” he said. “I would love maybe an exemption, or maybe a joint partnership, Bare Knuckle-UFC, similar to McGregor Sports and Entertainment and Mayweather Promotions. Some sort of agreement where we can get busy. I need to be busy and right now I’m working to get there. So let’s see what happens.”
As for BKFC, McGregor spoke of the collaboration between the fight league and the broadcaster DAZN, which will see 24 exclusive live events annually on the platform.
“We had some great announcements today,” McGregor said. “We’re partnering up with DAZN, which is a giant in the combat sports world. It’s a huge one for us. It legitimises us. And what do we do on the night? We go out and put on back-to-back-to-back amazing performances. What an evening, I’m very, very proud to be here.”
