The hype train for Conor McGregor’s return has started up again! After the cancellation of his UFC 303 bout against Michael Chandler, the fans were left wondering what was next for the Irishman. A return later in 2024? That seemed unlikely as UFC boss Dana White had confirmed, “We’ll figure it out. Not this year. He won’t fight this year.”

But things seemed to have taken a turn as in a recent statement, the UFC head honcho has now indicated that the ‘The Notorious’ will be returning in 2025. However, it won’t be against Michael Chandler. So what are some of the matchups that we can see McGregor take part in? Let’s take a look at the possibilities!

Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor 3 to settle the score in UFC

At UFC 196 in 2016, Nate Diaz handed Conor McGregor his first loss in the UFC. Submitting the Irishman in the second round, Diaz shocked the world as McGregor had been on a tear in the promotion before he ran into the Stockton native.

They faced off again in a re-match at UFC 202 in August later that year, and this time, McGregor came out with a win via a majority decision. With the score between them standing at 1-1, a fight against Diaz does make sense for ‘The Notorious’s return. But Diaz is currently a free agent as he chose not to re-sign with the promotion after his win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 279.

So, the UFC and Dana White may have to entice the ‘Stockton Slapper’ back into the Octagon before this fight can be set up. However, according to John Kavanagh, McGregor’s long-time coach, the trilogy is still on the “wishlist”.

Speaking to ‘Lucky Block’, Kavanagh recently shared, “But if we’re just talking hypothetically and we’re talking about a wishlist, it’d be to do that one a third time. Nate is a great fighter. I think the two of them just match up really well and it’s 1-1 so you kind of need to have the decider.”

It remains to be seen if the UFC manages to get Nate Diaz back for this proposed “decider”. But how about a fight against the man who last faced off against Conor McGregor inside the Octagon?

Dustin Poirier vs. McGregor for ‘The Diamond’s Retirement 

At UFC 264, Conor McGregor suffered one of the most horrific injuries ever seen inside the Octagon as he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier. Since that 2021 fight, Poirier has challenged for the lightweight title twice, coming up short against Charles Oliveira at UFC 269 and Islam Makhachev at UFC 302.

Now, the Louisiana native has indicated that he’s looking for one more fight before he hangs up his gloves and bids farewell to the Octagon. So, it does make sense to have a clash between him and McGregor. After all, their UFC 264 bout ended via injury, and not a clean loss for the Irishman.

However, in a recent social media exchange, ‘The Diamond’ hinted that he’s open to taking on Justin Gaethje who revealed that Poirier’s name is on his “list” of people he needs to fight to get back in the lightweight title picture. As such, it’ll be interesting to see which direction the UFC decides to pursue, McGregor vs Poirier, or Poirier vs Gaethje. What would be your pick? But there’s one more option available for ‘The Notorious’ and he is the current ‘BMF’ title holder who has already faced the Irishman a long time ago! Time for a run-back?

Irishman eyes Max Holloway’s BMF title

In 2013, Max Holloway and Conor McGregor faced off in a featherweight showdown that ended with the Irishman winning a unanimous decision over ‘Blessed’. That was Holloway’s third loss in the promotion but how did he respond? By going undefeated from 2013 to 2018 and winning the UFC featherweight championship as well!

After his spectacular UFC 300 BMF title win over Justin Gaethje, Holloway had shared with ‘KHON Sports’, “I mean it’d be hard to not say with him finally getting it announced that he’s actually fighting, to be Conor McGregor 2, to run that back. That’s the hugest fight I think.”

Holloway is currently gearing up to face Ilia Topuria for the 145 lbs. championship on October 26 at UFC 308. But with McGregor’s return set for “early 2025” according to Dana White, and Holloway already having fought at lightweight against Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt, it would be a possibility for him to finally get a chance to settle the long-standing score against The Irishman. However, it does hinge upon the result of the UFC 308 featherweight title clash. 

To wrap things up, each matchup offers its own allure, but nothing is certain in the unpredictable world of the UFC. One thing’s for sure, though—when Conor McGregor steps back into the Octagon, the entire MMA world will be watching. What fight do you think makes the most sense for ‘The Notorious’? Let us know in the comments below!