Conor McGregor names possible new date for his postponed UFC return against Michael Chandler before aiming savage dig at Jake Paul

Conor McGregor dropped a possible new date for his highly anticipated UFC return against Michael Chandler weeks after it was postponed. 

McGregor and Chandler were scheduled to headline UFC 303 to culminate International Fight Week on June 29. However, the Irishman was forced to pull out with an injured toe. Luckily, Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka answered the call to be on top of the bill on short notice as the UFC scrambled to keep the card intact. 

On Thursday morning, McGregor appeared in a Bare Knuckle FC presser in Marbella, Spain to talk about his involvement with the brand. Outside the venue, The Notorious was asked by Chisanga Malata if UFC 310 on December 14 would be an ideal date to reschedule.

'That sounds good to me,' McGregor said with a pout.

The former two-division champion previously tweeted that he talked to UFC president Dana White about the new date for his Octagon return and claimed it would happen before the year's end. 

While denying claims of a concrete date in the now-deleted tweet, White agreed that the fight needs to happen sooner than later. 

'Yeah, that's the fight that needs to happen,' White said on the Pat McAfee Show. 'We've been waiting for it, and it's an awesome fight. A fun fight. As of sitting here right here, right now, no I don't have a date for it, a plan, or anything like that.' 

'But obviously, me, the fans, and ESPN would love for it to happen in 2024. But, we'll see what happens.' 

In the meantime, McGregor has been busy promoting BKFC after becoming a part-owner earlier this year. 

During Thursday's presser, McGregor took aim at Jake Paul and vowed to fight in BKFC in the future in his first press conference since signing to become a part-owner of the promotion. 

While raving about how former UFC star Mike Perry rebuilt his name as the face of BKFC, McGregor jabbed at Paul, who will be fighting Perry in a boxing match on Saturday. 

'At Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, [you can] make a new name for yourself,' McGregor said. 'Look at what's happened to Michael Perry, one of our big stars here. 'The King of Violence' he titles himself. 

'He's had such a rise in the sport. Now he's up against a little dweeb of a thing in a fight this weekend. We're all rooting for him.'

Platinum Mike is stepping in to fight Paul after his scheduled bout with boxing legend Mike Tyson was rescheduled. Meanwhile, McGregor has not fought in over three years since breaking his tibia while losing his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier in July 2021. 

'I have a bit of business left with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, two fights left in my contract,' McGregor noted. 'But for sure, we got three lightweights up here and I have my eye on all of these.'

'I'm not up here just as an owner. Player-manager, I would title myself on this one.'