Conor McGregor continues to say he’ll be back.
After suffering a broken toe, which again put on hold his long-awaited return to the octagon against Michael Chandler at UFC 303, McGregor was in attendance for the Bellator Champions Series event on Saturday and discussed his injury.
During the event in Dublin, Ireland, McGregor said that his injured toe is still a pain to deal with despite stem cell treatment.
“We just adjust,” McGregor said. “Everything is moving. Everything is moving parts, so I’m good. The injury is a nuisance. It’s painful. I’m not going to lie. It’s very, very painful – probably even more than the leg, and that’s the truth. I’ll tell you why: The leg was at least wrapped up. I couldn’t access it. The foot is just there still. It’s like it’s exposed or something. It’s a bit painful, but it comes with the territory. I need to just dial it in, get my training camps correct.”
McGregor, in consistent messaging from what was already reported earlier by Ariel Helwani, says the fight with Michael Chandler could likely still happen later this year.
This would again imply that the injury is only but so severe.
“August-September … August-September, I’d love,” McGregor said. “You know the way it is. I’m in recovery mode.”
McGregor and Chandler are still on a collision course and are likely to fight next despite multiple setbacks.
McGregor was last in the octagon on July 10, 2021 at UFC 264, where he was stopped following Round 1 after breaking his leg in a fight against Dustin Poirier.
The former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion is 1-3 in his last four UFC bouts, and only has one win since November 2016.