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While his UFC future is currently somewhat up in the air, fans are still getting their dose of Conor McGregor.
The Irish superstar can be seen each week coaching against Michael Chandler on The Ultimate Fighter 31. While their planned fight may not be able to go ahead until 2024 now, their competitive rivalry has been easy to see on the series.
However, it’s probably fair to say that the show hasn’t been going the way that ‘The Notorious’ might’ve liked. Thus far, his team have not won a single fight. On the most recent episode, bantamweight Trevor Wells fell to team Chandler’s Timur Valiev.
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Following the episode, McGregor was criticised by fans on social media for his coaching abilities.
Since then, current UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney has taken to Twitter to ask what people think of McGregor as a coach:
The reaction to this from the fans has been interesting. One fan pointed out the most obvious explanation to the struggles of ‘The Notorious’, namely the fact that he received the team of fighters who’d never fought in the UFC before while Chandler had the team of veterans.
This was a view shared by numerous other fans.
Other fans, of course, were more scathing of the Irishman.
Despite this, McGregor did have his fair share of defenders, too.
The next episode of TUF 31 airs next Monday, and Team McGregor will clearly be hoping for their first victory as Carlos Vera is set to take on Brad Katona, who won the 27th season of TUF back in 2018.
Conor McGregor UFC return: Could USADA bend their rules for ‘The Notorious’?
When Conor McGregor signed to coach against Michael Chandler on TUF 31, the idea was clearly to build towards a clash in the octagon between the Irishman and ‘Iron Mike’.
However, while most people expected the bout to take place shortly after the season, it was announced this week that Conor McGregor had missed the cut-off date for returning to USADA’s drug testing pool – meaning that he cannot now fight in 2023.
Many people, fans and fighters alike, have now suggested that the fight between McGregor and Chandler will never happen. Some have advised Chandler to give up on the fight.
However, one person who does appear to hold out hope that ‘The Notorious’ could still return is famed MMA journalist Ariel Helwani.
Speaking on his MMA Hour podcast, he claimed that he wasn’t going to “hang his hat on the six months thing”, and stated that USADA could well change their rules to suit the Irishman.
“I ultimately am not going to hang my hat on the six months thing. USADA changes the rules and the gold post and who the hell knows, they don’t really address any of this stuff. Much like the officiating and my frustration with all that. They change laws and rules without telling us...they could come out and be like, “Oh, he’s good, he signed up, we just forgot to update the website.”
Watch Ariel Helwani discuss Conor McGregor below.
