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Conor McGregor has been given a 'now or never' ultimatum after providing a worrying update regarding his return to the UFC.
McGregor is still trying to find a date for his return to the UFC ahead of International Fight Week on June 29th.
Fans spotted a hint in a recent interview he gave ahead of UFC 299.
Michael Chandler, the coach who fought against McGregor on The Ultimate Fighter, will welcome McGregor to the prestigious Octagon.
But if Ilya Topria has his way, he will be standing opposite the Irishman in the cage when he returns.
Topria, who dethroned Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight title, has called for another showdown with “Notorious.”
Moreover, he is aiming to play against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu.
“My plans for the fight with Conor remain the same,” he said. “I have a preference. I would fight Conor, I would be No. 1. But it would be now or never with him.
“My dream was to be the best, to get a Spanish identity card. And now it's to fight in the Bernabéu. And here I'm going to fight. Yes or no. I'm realistic He is the only one who is ready to do this event. I'm ready. I think we will be able to hold an event at the end of this year.
“I have so much admiration and respect for everything this guy has done in the sport. There's no way I can hate him. And everything he's done in his personal life… That's another thing. I don't like to judge people without knowing them, but he's an icon for this sport.”
Ilia Topria on the pitch at the Bernabéu.Image: Getty
However, locking McGregor into a UFC date seems problematic, as the 35-year-old has already missed two dates.
He revealed that he went through two training camps to secure his first fight in the UFC since July 2021.
“I had a camp in Cannes in the south of France, I had a camp in Dubai, and the world champion was training with me. So I wanted a date in December, but then it became a date in January. , it got postponed more and more, and then I lost interest, “and stopped training for a while,'' he explained.
“I don’t stop training, I train all the time, but I stop training completely; [start] I'm drinking a little. So I'm going to go back, regroup, get a full test, and get ready to rock. When the date comes, you're ready to rock. ”
Featured image credit: Getty/MacLife
Topic: UFC, Conor McGregor
