UFC Rumors: It May Be a While Before Conor McGregor Steps Inside the Octagon Again
Not too long ago, it seemed like Conor McGregor's prolonged absence from the UFC would finally come to an end this year.
There were rumblings hinting that he could be booked for a fight sometime in the fall and that he could be matched up with whoever is holding the Lightweight Championship at that time.
Those tentative plans were all ruined last month, however.
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As fans may remember, McGregor was involved in an incident last month that featured him throwing a dolly at a bus containing UFC fighters. Some of the passengers sustained injuries from the glass that shattered after the dolly crashed into the bus.
Because of that incident, McGregor's future is now up in the air, and it's unclear when he could be eligible to compete in the UFC again.
Even the decision-makers at the UFC currently have to wait for things to be sorted out before they can move forward with their plans.
Speaking recently to TMZ Sports, UFC president Dana White revealed that they are still waiting to see what kind of ruling will be handed down by the New York City judge presiding over the case before they make a decision on how they will punish McGregor.
As TMZ Sports noted, McGregor isn't due back in court until June 14.
Whether this whole legal situation McGregor is currently mired in will be resolved after June 14 remains unknown at this point. If the matter is not resolved by then, it's easy to imagine McGregor not being able to return to the UFC at any point this year.
There's also one other thing that could get in the way of McGregor coming back to the UFC.
Apparently, there's a chance that McGregor could be sentenced to spend up to seven years in prison for that dolly attack, and that would obviously prevent him from fighting inside the Octagon for the foreseeable future.
If McGregor is forced to miss that much time, it will be interesting to see if he even comes back to the UFC at all.
MMA fans are not used to McGregor being away from the Octagon for so long.
From April of 2013 to November of 2016, McGregor fought inside the Octagon 10 different times, per Sherdog.
His most recent fight featured him winning the UFC Lightweight Championship from Eddie Alvarez.
McGregor has managed to win over many fans with his previously harmless antics and his cocky attitude. McGregor also became famous for predicting how he would vanquish his opponents and making good on those predictions.
Though he hasn't fought in the UFC since 2016, McGregor is still arguably the company's biggest star at the moment, though there's a chance now that he may not be coming back anytime soon.
Should McGregor somehow find a way to return to the Octagon sooner rather than later, there are rumblings suggesting that he could face current UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The two have been exchanging barbs via the media for quite some time now, and many fans will likely jump on the opportunity to see them settle their feud.
McGregor's situation remains unclear at this point, but hopefully, for UFC fans, that will change soon.
