Conor McGregor is eyeing a September return, following his withdrawal from UFC 303.
Although it was confirmed the week before last that McGregor would not be able to fight on the reason as to him being forced off the card was only made clear a few days ago, with a toe injury ruling him out of the bout.
'The Notorious' was in attendance at the 3 Arena, Dublin, on Saturday night to support several team mates that were competing on the Bellator Champions Series card. Whilst there, he spoke to Andy Stevenson of SevereMMA to give a fresh update on his injury. He said:
"It's tough. But, you know, we keep we keep it dialed in. I was kind of looking forward to getting the fight wrapped up June 29th, having a nice celebration on my birthday and then dialing back in for sometime of a September date, or give me September, October or something like that.
"Everything is moving so I'm good. The injury is a nuisance. I am not going to lie, It's very, very painful. Probably even more painful than the leg, and that's the truth, and I tell you why, because the leg at least was wrapped up, I couldn't access it.
"The foot is just there still, it's like it's exposed or something. So it's a bit painful, but it comes with the f**king territory. I need to just dial it in and get my training camps correct. I'm not trying to be hurt in the gym and I'm not going to hurt people in the gym either. I'm trying to get to these fights 100%, and that's what every fighter should be looking for and every training partner should be looking for, for the fighters that they are helping.
"That's the goal and when you do that, you win. I was very close to getting there, I had a little lapse in concentration, a wake up call for myself, for my coaches and my training partners. I'm going to recalibrate, readjust, recuperate and return."
McGregor also expressed his gratitude to the UFC for the way in which the promotion have handled things and further spoke about his reason to not compete, unless he felt 100% fit.
"The UFC have been stellar for me, they've really gone above for me and I'm so grateful for that because I was in a dark place. I'm getting there again and I'm ready to go again soon enough like, so I'm just very appreciative of all of them assisting me in the thing.
"I'm sad for the fans that, you know, that wanted the entertainment for the Pay-Per-View after the press conference and the Pay-Per-View on the card you know. But look, it just it's one of them things.
"How could I justify making that walk again and then, you know, and then be stationary and flat on the feet and then say to my fans afterwards 'Oh, no, this happened but I made the walk for you guys.'
"The fans have seen this, I can't do it again. They need to see that, you know, if you're paying that much and all, you deserve to see the best of me. So that's what they're going to see and it's on me now, on my team of coaches and my team of training partners to really dial it in and make sure that happens."
You can find the full interview with SevereMMA below:
