Conor McGregor says fight with Michael Chandler can still happen, wants a “special permit” or “joint partnership” to fight in BKFC

Conor McGregor doesn't seem to mind that Michael Chandler is leaving him.

On Friday, it was announced that Chandler will rematch Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 309 in November. It's a big change for Chandler, who has spent the better part of the last two years pursuing a fight against McGregor, but Chandler said that ultimately it comes down to pursuing the lightweight title and that he believes a fight against McGregor could still happen in the future. And it seems McGregor agrees.

On Friday night, McGregor, who became a co-owner of Bare Knuckle FC earlier this year, was in attendance at BKFC 66 in Hollywood, Florida, and spoke at the post-fight press conference following the event about the latest developments in his UFC career, saying that a fight against Chandler is still a possibility.

“As far as the Chandler-Oliveira rematch goes, I'm happy with the date,” McGregor said. “It's November. Maybe we can do it after that, if they don't let me fight until December, maybe January or February, one of those dates. Maybe we can still do it. I'm just a little bit on the sidelines. All I can do is carry on as before. I take the tests under the supervision of the testing authority, train every day and that's it. Let's see what happens. Hopefully it all works out.”

McGregor was due to fight this year when he and Chandler were scheduled to compete in the main event of UFC 303 in June, but a toe injury forced him to pull out of the contest. It was the latest setback for McGregor, who has not competed since injuring his leg in a fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. Now UFC CEO Dana White insists “Notorious” will not return to action until 2025.

But McGregor is tired of sitting on the sidelines. Although a fight in the UFC this year seems unlikely, the former two-division champion suggested a possible co-promotion between the UFC and BKFC to ensure he can return to action sooner rather than later.

“I have two fights left on my UFC contract,” McGregor said. “My opponent that I was supposed to fight has scheduled another fight. I would be happy to have an exception or maybe a joint partnership, Bare Knuckle-UFC, similar to McGregor Sports and Entertainment and Mayweather Promotions. Some kind of arrangement where we can work things out. I have to be busy and right now I'm working on making that happen. So let's see what happens.”

While it's unlikely that the UFC will grant McGregor's request, the association has a good relationship with the BKFC and has made exceptions for McGregor before, most notably when he fought Floyd Mayweather in 2017. But if that doesn't happen and McGregor is simply forced to keep waiting, well, he's had plenty of practice in recent years.

“Like I said, I have two fights left on my contract and it's a minute,” McGregor said. “But patience is one of the most important skills a person can have, study, learn and implement, and that's where I am right now.”