{"id":296626,"date":"2023-11-16T13:25:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T13:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=296626"},"modified":"2023-11-16T13:25:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T13:25:19","slug":"conor-mcgregor-targets-rematch-with-bitter-rival-before-retiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/mma\/conor-mcgregor-targets-rematch-with-bitter-rival-before-retiring\/","title":{"rendered":"Conor McGregor targets rematch with bitter rival before retiring"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Conor McGregor targets rematch with bitter rival before calling it quits&#8230; as UFC star claims his former opponent is &#8216;fighting&#8217;s biggest chicken&#8217;<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Conor McGregor is targeting a rematch with a former opponent before retiring<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The lightweight star has not fought since his defeat to Dustin Poirier in 2021\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why Anthony Joshua&#8217;s next fight plan makes sense for his career: The Hook\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>UFC star Conor McGregor is targeting a rematch with a bitter rival before ending his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old took to social media to brand his former opponent as &#8216;fighting&#8217;s biggest chicken&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>McGregor has not fought since his first-round defeat by Dustin Poirier back in 2021 &#8211; where he suffered a brutal leg injury.<\/p>\n<p>The former two division champion\u00a0claims he will make a return to the cage in April following a three-year hiatus as he insists he is in for UFC 300.<\/p>\n<p>It looks likely that the Irishman will go head-to-head with top lightweight contender Michael Chandler, yet nothing has been confirmed by Dana White and the UFC. Despite having one eye on &#8216;Iron&#8217; Mike,&#8217; McGregor is targeting a rematch with a major rival.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/16\/11\/77874793-12756927-image-a-24_1700134082852.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Conor McGregor is targeting a rematch with a bitter rival before he calls it a career<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/16\/11\/77874805-12756927-image-a-30_1700134149470.jpg\" height=\"438\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Irishman has not fought since he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021<\/p>\n<p>The Irishman is vying for a rematch with none other than former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.<\/p>\n<p>Nurmagomedov retired in 2020 after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The 35-year-old retired with a professional record of 29-0 and was arguably one of the most dominant fighters of his generation.<\/p>\n<p>Both McGregor and Nurmgamedov went head-to-head at UFC 229 back in 2019 in what was billed as the biggest fight in the history of Mixed Martial Arts &#8211; with the Russian going on to win via fourth-round submission.<\/p>\n<p>The bad blood between the pair spilled over after the bout &#8211; with McGregor being at the heart of a post-fight brawl with &#8216;Team Nurmagomedov.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Since the encounter, the Irishman has called for a rematch with the Russian on several occasions &#8211; yet nothing has ever materialised.<\/p>\n<p>As alluded to, McGregor took to social media to confirm his interest in fighting at UFC 300. However, his coach believes his star fighter will make a sensational return to the Octagon in the summer &#8211; maybe in time for International Fight Week.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on The MMA Hour, Kavanagh said: &#8216;We were hoping for April. That was the hope. That was what we were told. And now it seems to be the summertime.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I don&#8217;t know [why]. That&#8217;s literally what we were having a bit of a back and forward [about] today.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/16\/11\/77874877-12756927-image-a-39_1700134321738.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>McGregor has called for a rematch with long-term rival and former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/16\/11\/77874837-12756927-image-a-41_1700134358488.jpg\" height=\"211\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Irishman claims that the Russian is fighting&#8217;s &#8216;biggest challenge&#8217; &#8211; but has since deleted the tweet<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/16\/11\/77874901-12756927-image-a-42_1700134393391.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The pair went head-to-head in 2018 &#8211; with Nurmagomedov going on to win via fourth-round submission<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the thrilling UFC 295 event on the weekend &#8211; where Tom Aspinall became the third British UFC champion in history &#8211; White confirmed that the UFC were targeting a summer date for McGregor&#8217;s return.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Mail Sport, White said: &#8216;He&#8217;s good, he&#8217;s ready.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He wants to [fight]. He&#8217;s got to sit out for the six months to get back into the drug-testing pool. So realistically&#8230; could be looking at him next summer.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>White&#8217;s and Kavanagh&#8217;s comments are in stark contrast to what the &#8216;Notorious&#8217; claimed just one month ago, when asked about his UFC return while in Saudi.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I&#8217;m in a great place, my body is fully healed and hopefully [I\u2019ll be back in] April,&#8217; McGregor told TNT Sports.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2023\/10\/25\/The%20Hook_Promo_Desktop.636.png\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/mma\/article-12756927\/Conor-McGregor-targets-rematch-rival-calling-quits.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Conor McGregor targets rematch with bitter rival before calling it quits&#8230; as UFC star claims his former opponent is &#8216;fighting&#8217;s biggest chicken&#8217; Conor McGregor is targeting a rematch with a former opponent before retiring The lightweight star has not fought since his defeat to Dustin Poirier in 2021\u00a0 Why Anthony Joshua&#8217;s next fight plan makes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296625,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Conor McGregor targets rematch with bitter rival before retiring - Sports Life Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/mma\/conor-mcgregor-targets-rematch-with-bitter-rival-before-retiring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conor McGregor targets rematch with bitter rival before retiring - Sports Life Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Conor McGregor targets rematch with bitter rival before calling it quits&#8230; 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