Conor McGregor‘s life is in shambles, considering how the past few days have unraveled. After all, losing the civil suit against Nikita Hand has been a massive blow to his reputation. While the financial settlement, which amounts to around a quarter of a million dollars is a paltry sum for the wealthiest mixed martial artist of all time, it has made him persona non grata in many quarters. To the point that he has started to bleed sponsors and brand endorsement deals.

But the question on everyone’s mind is- what about his UFC career? Are things still on track as they were before, or has the lawsuit changed things between him and the promotion? Well, no one knows for sure at the moment. But veteran sports reporter, Dave Meltzer has a theory.

“Dana has to make that call. He’s said nothing about it. My gut is he’ll be like every promoter was whether it was for Tyson or Floyd and that their drawing power is too big. And as I noted in the story, if Dana won’t use him, every boxing & MMA promoter will do everything they can to get him to fight for their company,” Meltzer tweeted in reply to a fan asking if ‘Mac’ will be canceled for good.

And this does seem to be the near consensus in the MMA world. After all, ‘Mac’ remains a huge draw as he proved yet again earlier this year. After all, UFC 303, where he was scheduled to fight Michael Chandler after three years of inactivity, quickly rose to the upper echelon of the highest-grossing gate events in UFC history to date. Even if one were to say that ‘Mac’s popularity has gone down by fifty percent, McGregor remains more popular and more of a draw than almost every other fighter in the promotion.

In addition, McGregor is appealing the decision, which gives Dana White and co. a perhaps flimsy excuse, but a justification nonetheless that his civil case is yet to reach its conclusion. Not to mention the UFC welcomes and celebrates President-elect Donald Trump who lost a civil lawsuit to E. Jean Carroll earlier this year. While he may not feel the fallout of the civil suit as far as the UFC is concerned, there is still the question of when and whom he will fight.

Can Conor McGregor make a UFC comeback?

The only thing we know about Conor McGregor’s fighting future is that he will fight sometime next year. Or so Dana White had said at the post-UFC 309 presser, days before the civil suit decision. Assuming nothing has changed, that is all we know. When, where, and against whom ‘Mac’s next fight would be, however, remains unknown.

Michael Chandler, of course, has claimed that the Irishman won’t be back till at least mid-2025, which has been supplemented by White’s recent comments to Jim Rome that he sees ‘Mac’ returning to action “later part of next year.” As far as his opponent goes, it may well be Michael Chandler since both ‘Iron’ and White are in favor of it and the timeline gives plenty of time for ‘Iron’ to prepare even if he takes another fight in the interim.

And to be honest, Chandler does seem like the best option. After all, the former Bellator champ has said repeatedly that his whole objective is to have entertaining fights, which is exactly the type of matchup McGregor would want and not look horrible against. Not to mention he is a big enough star. Few other names are big enough stars and have a history with ‘Mac’ to be considered for his next fight.

Another perfect pick could be Dustin Poirier, with whom ‘Mac’ has unfinished business and very real bad blood. Not to mention ‘Diamond’ is nearing retirement and a fan favorite, all of which only add to his allure. Nate Diaz would also have been a very good pick but is no longer with the UFC, which eliminates him from contention.

The other top-ranked lightweights such as Justin Gaethje, or Charles Oliveira are too dangerous and don’t have existing storylines with McGregor as the guys mentioned earlier do. There is also #6 ranked Dan Hooker, whom ‘Mac’ has mentioned as a possible opponent, but it is hard to see him get the green light with Chandler and Poirier in the division.

#5 ranked Max Holloway has fought and lost to McGregor more than a decade ago, and has been softened by Ilia Topuria enough to be considered for fighting McGregor. But there is still a lot of time between now and late 2025, during which a lot could happen. But at the moment it seems McGregor’s next opponent would probably be Chandler, or maybe Poirier or Holloway. What do you think about Dave Meltzer’s prediction for how Conor McGregor will be treated by the UFC?