Conor McGregor ‘Very Close’ to New Deal, Expects UFC Return to Be in Las Vegas

When Conor McGregor makes his highly-anticipated Ultimate Fighting Championship return, it will likely be in Las Vegas.

The former UFC two-division champion spoke briefly with TMZ Sports regarding his next move after jogging on the streets of New York. While he did not confirm whether Khabib Nurmagomedov would be his next opponent, he did give some insight into the venue for his next bout.

“We’ll see what happens,” McGregor said as he was jogging on the streets of New York. “I’d love to fight in the Garden again. But I believe this one is Las Vegas.”’

The promotion currently has two pay-per-view cards scheduled for Las Vegas for the remainder of 2018: UFC 229 on Oct. 6 and UFC 232 on Dec. 29, both of which will take place at the T-Mobile Arena. The Irish star has not competed since defeating Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt inside Madison Square Garden at UFC 205 in November 2016.

His lone combat sports appearance of 2017 was a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather this past August. The SBG Ireland product reportedly earned in the neighborhood of $100 million for his 10th round TKO loss to the pound-for-pound boxing great.

More recently, McGregor was arrested for throwing a dolly through a bus window carrying UFC fighters and employers — including Nurmagomedov — a couple days before UFC 223. Last week, “The Notorious” got off without jail time, as he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. McGregor was ordered to perform three to five days of community service, one to three days of anger management evaluation and pay for the damages he caused to the bus.

He was stripped of the lightweight title prior to UFC 223, and Nurmgagomedov claimed the crown with a decision victory over Al Iaquinta in the evening’s main event.

McGregor is currently still in negotiations with the promotion and said he’s “pushing for” a return in 2018.

“It’s not official, but we’re very close,” he said.