Conor McGregor has reignited the flames of a return to the UFC in a series of quickly-deleted social media posts.

The Irishman hasn’t fought since 2021, when he suffered a broken leg and lost for the second time to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy. He recovered from the injury years ago, but a broken toe cost him a return this summer at UFC 303.

Now, he appears to be back training and insists that he will be returning in 2025. He even named Michael Chandler as his opponent, after previously claiming that it would be in February against Dan Hooker back in October.

Conor McGregor teases Michael Chandler comeback fight

Last night, Conor McGregor took to X to share a few choice words for his rivals, including Michael Chandler and even featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. He also claimed that the fight game was ‘too easy’ for him after winning multiple belts in the UFC by 27.

He first wrote a message that read: “19 KO’s in Pro MMA, that not my business tho great chat Dana White, love your thinking!” He followed that up by noting that he’s willing to fight “Anywhere, anyweight, anytime,” adding that “Dana knows.”

When Michael Chandler told him to try and add a KO number 20, he replied that they would be fighting next without naming a date. “Remember in the cold tub doing the TUF coaches’ challenge you said I’d be your 20th?” Chandler asked. “Show up and try me.”

McGregor replied with a mocking tweet of his own, adding: “It’s you! Rest up and I’ll see you at the top.” He also tagged Dana White and used the hashtag “Man of my word”.

Dana White says Conor McGregor’s comeback will be in late 2025

After pushing for a rescheduling of his fight with Chandler to the end of this year, McGregor ended up being shelved until 2025. And recent indications from UFC boss Dana White are that he will now have to wait until the latter part of next year to compete again.

“Conor is going to come back late 25 so there is a lot of time for us to work out who is going to fight Conor,” he said at the UFC 309 press conference last month. “There is no doubt Conor wants to fight, he hits me up all the time.

“I told you guys he probably wasn’t going to fight in 2024 and he didn’t. He’s going to fight in 2025, probably at the end of the year, if it is earlier that is good for all of us.” Asked why it would take so long he replied that it’s just “how it plays out.”