Conor McGregor confirms new UFC opponent and date for next year

The Dubliner will take on New Zealander Dan Hooker in what will be his first fight in close to five years

Conor McGregor will make his long-anticipated return to the octagon in Saudi Arabia next February, according to reports.

The Dubliner will take on New Zealander Dan Hooker in what will be his first fight in close to five years.

McGregor, 36, last fought in the octagon in July 2021 when suffering a broken leg in a second consecutive loss to Dustin Poirier.

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The former two-time UFC champion had long been scheduled to fight Michael Chandler, but the fight was cancelled this summer due to McGregor breaking a toe.

But now Bloody Elbow reports that McGregor has a venue, an opponent and a date confirmed for the new year.

Speaking in Marbella, Spain, where he was promoting the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship on Saturday night, McGregor said: "February first, Saudi Arabia," before revealing that his opponent would be the New Zealander.

But this seems to have been news to Hooker himself, who was also in the corner for Oscar Willis’ bare-knuckle fight.

Hooker said of McGregor: “I’ve got an opponent early next year that I’m focused on, he’s just a busy man.

“From coming over here and seeing all the things that he’s got going on, if I had that amount of businesses and that much money I don’t think you’d catch me anywhere near a cage for the rest of my days.

“So I can understand. It kind of is what it is, I’m going to fight between January and March and you know me, it doesn’t really matter who that is. I always say yes.”

Hooker has a mixed martial record of 24 fights, twelve wins and twelve losses.

Among his losses was a January 2021 defeat to Michael Chandler, who had been set to take on McGregor.

Hooker last fought in August when beating Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 in Australia in a thrilling contest that won Fight of the Night.

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