CONOR MCGREGOR has made a defiant vow after being forced to withdraw from a fight for the first time in his UFC career.
The Irishman was due to make his long-awaited octagon return early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 303 in Las Vegas.
GettyConor McGregor was due to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 this weekend[/caption]
X@THENOTORIOUSMMABut the Irishman pulled out of his comeback fight after breaking his left pinky toe[/caption]
APThe Notorious insists he WILL eventually return to the octagon[/caption]
But a broken toe in one of his final sparring sessions before jetting out to Sin City scuppered his long-overdue showdown with fellow fan favourite Michael Chandler.
MMA pundits and fans alike now have serious doubts over the Return of The Mac ever coming to fruition.
But The Notorious is adamant he will make the walk to the octagon again, recently writing on Instagram along with a post about his 40-second KO victory over Donald Cerrone: “I’ll be back.”
McGregor, 35, is now hoping to make his return before the end of the summer, telling SevereMMA last weekend: “August, September, I’d love [that]. I’m in recovery mode.
“It’s three weeks to the day, it happened three weeks ago today. I’m still here rocking around in the slippers.
“They’re not bad slippers, thankfully and they’re cosy enough but I can’t get into a shoe yet.
“They put stem cells in my foot.
“They came and took it from the back and put it in my foot, 20 mg of stem cells out of my own back, from the bone marrow in and right into the break.
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“My f***ing toe is sore and I don’t know if the stem cells into the break was the right move.
“Because you know the way chicks put the filler in their face: my f***ing baby toe looks like that.
“I don’t think it’s the swelling anymore. I think it’s just the stem cells in my toe.”
UFC CEO and President Dana White, however, is refusing to begin plotting a new date for McGregor’s return until he gets the all-clear from doctors.
The 54-year-old said: “I’m not doing anything until I know that Conor is healthy.
“It’s not even worth talking about.
“What about September? What about October?
“He’s not ready. So why even talk about that?”
He added: “I’m not thinking about Conor fighting anybody right now.
“I have no time frame, I have nothing.
“McGregor’s not even healed yet. McGregor’s hurt.”
Former two-division champion McGregor hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his left leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier nearly three years ago.
APConor McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his left leg nearly three years ago[/caption]