Conor McGregor may be closer to a UFC return than at any point in the last four years. On February 18, the former two-division champion posted a brief message on X stating he had been offered both a fight and a date and had agreed to both. The only remaining obstacle, he indicated, was a signed contract.
“I have been offered an opponent and a date and I accept,” McGregor wrote. “Waiting on my contract.”
The post was deleted shortly after it went up. McGregor named neither the opponent nor the date.
The timing has drawn immediate attention to the UFC’s planned event at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., scheduled for June 14, 2026. Dana White confirmed in February that the card is in an advanced state of planning, though he was precise about where things stood.
“I didn’t say it was done; I said the card was built,” White said.
The event is expected to feature a compact lineup of six to seven fights. McGregor has made no secret of wanting to return on that stage, and his close relationship with President Trump, which included attending the inauguration in January 2025, makes the narrative fit obvious.
McGregor has not competed since UFC 264 on July 10, 2021, when he suffered a broken leg in the first round of his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier. The years since have included a failed comeback, a coaching role on The Ultimate Fighter, and an 18-month USADA anti-doping suspension. He served as head coach on TUF 31 in 2023 opposite Michael Chandler, and a fight between the two was booked for UFC 303 on June 29, 2024, before McGregor withdrew, citing a toe injury. White has since signaled that the Chandler matchup is no longer the direction for 2026.
McGregor becomes eligible to compete again from March 20, 2026, upon completing the required 18-month USADA suspension and re-entry testing process. No official clearance has been publicly confirmed.
The contract situation McGregor referenced is not simply procedural. In January 2026, he went public with his position that his existing UFC deal became void following the promotion’s $7.7 billion broadcast agreement with Paramount, which restructured the pay-per-view model that had underpinned his previous contracts.
“I’m the highest-generating PPV fighter of all time,” McGregor said during a Roblox stream in January. “The PPV system is done, I’m due a new contract. So we’re going into negotiations in February, and I’m very interested to see how it goes.”
That statement set a February timeline for talks. His post on the 18th appears to be a direct product of those negotiations. Whether his void contract claim carries legal weight is unclear. The UFC has not publicly responded to his characterization. What is clear is that a new agreement would need to be in place before any booking becomes official.
McGregor did not indicate who the offered opponent is. Several names have surfaced in recent months. Mauricio Ruffy has publicly expressed interest. Nate Diaz, McGregor’s rival from their two fights in 2016, recently hinted at his own UFC return, reviving talk of a third meeting between the two. Chandler remains the most established link given their shared TUF history, though the signals from the UFC side suggest that the matchup has cooled considerably.
Not everyone inside the sport is prepared to treat the post as a reliable indicator of what comes next. Veteran UFC welterweight Matt Brown was direct in his assessment.
“He’s not fighting on that s—, bro,” Brown said. “And even if that is signed and a done deal, I’m not gonna believe it until he’s inside the Octagon and a punch is thrown.”
.@iamtheimmortal doubts #UFC pulls off biggest card ever for the #UFCWhiteHouse event:
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 15, 2026
"They donāt have the stars that they used to have."
(š„ @DamonMartin) pic.twitter.com/gTMbATy2AB
Brown also raised a pointed question about the deleted post, suggesting McGregor’s name may be serving a promotional function regardless of whether a fight actually materializes. “They’re using him to promote it and using his name to get out there,” he said.
The deletion itself has added a layer of ambiguity. Possible explanations include a premature disclosure ahead of an official UFC announcement, a UFC request to hold off on public messaging, or deliberate leverage in ongoing contract negotiations. None of those have been confirmed.
What can be stated with reasonable certainty is that McGregor and the UFC are in active discussions, that a specific offer involving an opponent and a date has been put to him, and that he has indicated his willingness to accept it. The contract is the final piece, and negotiating a new one from scratch in a changed broadcast landscape is not a straightforward process.
The UFC has not commented publicly on McGregor’s post or his contract status.
