Conor McGregor has appeared to hint his return to the UFC will soon be announced. The promotion’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion is set to return to the Octagon on January 23.
McGregor’s assignment for his comeback fight will be a rematch against former featherweight rival Dustin Poirier, whom he’ll meet in the main event of UFC 257.
The pair’s second meeting has been in the works for close to a month, with UFC president Dana White recently revealing all that remains is for the duo to sign their respective contracts.
“We’ve offered the fight and we got him his own date,” White told BT Sport. “That date didn’t exist.
“We worked with ESPN, we got him his own date. And we’ve offered them the fight. I know contracts haven’t been signed yet.”
JUST IN: Dustin Poirier responds to Conor McGregor accepting UFC rematch demand
McGregor kicked things off by tweeting a smiley-face emoji, with Poirier adding to the exciting by tweeting a diamond emoji a few minutes later.
Although there’s been a hold-up in announcing McGregor vs Poirier II – a fight which has verbally and publicly been accepted by both combatants – UFC supremo White is confident the former will make the walk to the cage on January 23.
“Conor’s never – listen, Conor likes to play games, okay!” White said. “Conor plays games and he does his thing.
“One thing Conor doesn’t do; Conor doesn’t commit to a fight and then not fight. Conor fights.
“Things are gonna change now. This isn’t the same Conor McGregor, you know, back in the day. Conor is rich, Conor is very wealthy.
“And I think that Conor is in a position right now where he’s just trying to make moves that he thinks, you know, are right. We’ll see, we’ll see how this whole thing plays out.”
Should McGregor vs Poirier II come to fruition, their second meeting will be a rematch of their UFC 178 showdown, which took place six years ago at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
‘The Notorious’ ran through his featherweight rival that night, announcing himself as a legitimate 145lb contender with an emphatic first-round TKO victory.
McGregor, 22-4, hasn’t set foot inside the Octagon since his 40-second destruction of Donald Cerrone in January.
Poirier, meanwhile, was last in action in July – defeating New Zealand’s Dan Hooker via unanimous decision in a gruelling five-round war.