{"id":291409,"date":"2023-10-06T10:24:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T10:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=291409"},"modified":"2023-10-06T10:24:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T10:24:15","slug":"mcgregor-wows-jones-in-new-sparring-footage-as-he-hints-at-ufc-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/mma\/mcgregor-wows-jones-in-new-sparring-footage-as-he-hints-at-ufc-return\/","title":{"rendered":"McGregor wows Jones\u00a0in new sparring footage as he hints at UFC return"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Conor McGregor wows Jon Jones in new sparring footage as Irishman suggests he&#8217;s finally re-entered the drug testing pool for UFC return<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Conor McGregor hints he is taking the relevant steps to re-enter the USAD pool<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00a0McGregor hasn&#8217;t fought since breaking his leg in July 2021 against Poirier<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00a0Mail Sport&#8217;s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Jon Jones was wowed by Conor McGregor&#8217;s sparring footage as the Irishman prepares to make his long-awaited return to the UFC.<\/p>\n<p>McGregor hasn&#8217;t stepped foot in the Octagon since UFC 264 all the way back in July 2021 when he broke his leg in the opening round of his trilogy bout with\u00a0Dustin Poirier.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Notorious&#8217; was expected to return against Michael Chandler at some point in 2023 but the former two-weight UFC champion failed to sign up for USADA drug testing in time for a fight date this year.<\/p>\n<p>McGregor must undergo six months&#8217; worth of random drug testing with the UFC&#8217;s official anti-doping partner before he is cleared to fight and so would have had to re-enter the pool in June to be cleared in time for the final pay-per-view event of 2023.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/08\/76239219-12601115-image-a-1_1696579083321.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jon Jones is impressed by how &#8216;smooth&#8217; Conor McGregor is looking in sparring ahead of his UFC return<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/08\/76196955-12601115-The_Irishman_has_not_competed_inside_the_octagon_since_breaking_-a-2_1696579092195.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Irishman has not competed inside the octagon since breaking his leg at UFC 264 in 2021<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CyAQKA1OClf\/<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by Conor McGregor Official (@thenotoriousmma)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/09\/76239309-12601115-image-a-19_1696579331980.jpg\" height=\"132\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>McGregor has been out of the USADA pool since the third quarter of 2021 but hinted that he is taking the relevant steps to re-enter in a series of training clips uploaded to social media that caught the eye of UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.<\/p>\n<p>He commented: &#8216;McGregor looking smooth with it,&#8217; underneath a video of McGregor partaking in some full contact sparring.<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old shared a cryptic Instagram message underneath one of his sparring videos appearing to claim he had submitted forms to the UFC&#8217;s Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky.<\/p>\n<p>He said: &#8216;Find my targets. Hit them. F*** the consequences. You&#8217;re going down. This is fighting. Sparring day with slick @grozdevnikolay.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Always a banger of a spar with the slick fella. Submitted my stuff to Novitzky. Ball rolling see you soon you little light work b****.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Chandler and McGregor&#8217;s fight is not booked for a specific date nor venue but many in the know anticipate that the blockbuster showdown is being lined up for the historic UFC 300 card next year.<\/p>\n<p>No fights have been added to the bill yet but it would make sense to have McGregor&#8217;s return as the featured attraction.<\/p>\n<p>Providing McGregor re-enters the pool this month he will be available by April which is roughly around when UFC 300 is expected to fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/06\/08\/76196967-12601115-Michael_Chandler_right_is_still_confident_that_he_will_fight_McG-a-3_1696579099666.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>McGregor is expected to face Michael Chandler (right) at some point next year, potentially on the historic UFC 300 bill<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/mma\/article-12601115\/Conor-McGregor-wows-Jon-Jones-sparring-footage-UFC.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Conor McGregor wows Jon Jones in new sparring footage as Irishman suggests he&#8217;s finally re-entered the drug testing pool for UFC return Conor McGregor hints <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/mma\/mcgregor-wows-jones-in-new-sparring-footage-as-he-hints-at-ufc-return\/\" title=\"McGregor wows Jones\u00a0in new sparring footage as he hints at UFC return\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mma"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - 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