The Mac is not back.
Conor McGregor has not competed in over three years and flaked on his supposed comeback fight at UFC 303 last June. Despite claiming his injury is completely healed, there’s still no timetable for his Michael Chandler fight, which has been in the works since early 2023.
UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad suspects McGregor may be struggling with substance abuse, a common theory after “Notorious” was accused of “stumbling around drunk” on the set of The Ultimate Fighter 31. That’s why Muhammad won’t entertain talk of a McGregor fight at 170 pounds.
“The dude doesn’t look good in life right now,” Muhammad told Submission Radio. “He looks like he’s coked out. He looks like he’s on drugs. I mean, if he beats Michael Chandler, like, I wouldn’t even let him skip the line, because like I said, there’s guys that work for it. There’s guys that got here. And then even with the last fight with Colby [Covington] skipping the line for Leon [Edwards], I’m like, I would never do that because there’s guys that are actually putting the work in. And for legacy-wise, obviously, I would want to slap Conor around. But yeah, like there would be too much for it not to happen, right?”
In fact, UFC CEO Dana White is not even thinking about McGregor’s return.
“It took him this long to fight this fight,” Muhammad continued. “It took him this long to make this fight happen with Chandler. So for them to even think that, ‘oh, Conor’s going to fight for the welterweight belt,’ then I gotta sit here and wait two years. Nah, it’s not going to happen. I’ll give it to the guys that are actually fighting, guys that are actually putting the work in and guys that deserve it. Conor doesn’t deserve it. I hope he fights Chandler, because I feel bad for Chandler that Chandler waited this long for it. So I hope that fight actually happens. But honestly, I don’t think it happens.”
Muhammad, fresh off his title-winning performance at UFC 304, is currently unbooked.