Mac Announces June 29th Return … At 185?

McGregor has announced the date and the opponent for his long awaited UFC return … and a surprising weightclass the fight will take place at.

Conor McGregor promised us a New Year’s Day fight announcement, and he has delivered a bit early.

After months of uncertainty and speculation, McGregor says he’ll be facing Michael Chandler on the UFC’s big June 29th International Fight Week pay-per-view in Las Vegas. The Irish sports star shared the news in a new social media video.

“Ladies and gentlemen, a happy New Years to you all,” a relaxed McGregor said, swirling wine in a glass. “I’d like to announce the return date for myself, ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor. The greatest comeback of all time will take place in Las Vegas for International Fight Week on June the 29th.”

“Come a little closer,” he said to the camera. “And the opponent … is Michael Chandler. And the weight, Mr. Chandler? 185 pounds.”

McGregor ended the video with a cackle and a big sip of wine. He and Chandler had gone back and forth as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter regarding the weightclass of their eventual clash. Chandler is a lightweight, but McGregor has packed on so much muscle over the past two years that the fight was expected to go down at welterweight.

According to Mac, it’ll go down at whatever damn weight he says it will. We’ll see what the UFC says about all that, but for now we have a firm date and firm opponent.