Former UFC two-division champion, Conor McGregor, wants to make his long-awaited MMA return opposite longtime lightweight veteran, Dan Hooker, early next year in Saudi Arabia and as you might expect, the feeling is mutual.
No. 6-ranked lightweight contender Michael Chandler, who spent the better part of the last two years attached to a McGregor super fight that never materialized, dismissed the aging Hooker as McGregor’s “flavor of the week.”
He may not like what UFC CEO Dana White had to say about the potential pairing.
“That would be a great fight,” White told reporters at last night’s “Contender Series” press conference in Las Vegas (watch it here). “I like that fight.”
White insists the fight is not official and has not been discussed.
It’s hard to get excited about McGregor’s return after so many false starts; most notably, the UFC 303 pay-per-view (PPV) card that was torpedoed by a broken pinky toe. Whether or not Hooker is the opponent to finally lure “Notorious” back to the Octagon remains to be seen.
Chandler defeated Hooker by knockout at UFC 257.