Conor McGregor will make his long-awaited return to UFC on June 29 after nearly three years out.

Dana White confirmed that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion will fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June.

McGregor – who has 22 wins and six UFC defeats – has not competed in the UFC since July 2021 when he sustained a horrific leg break against Dustin Poirier, who he had previously fought and lost to six months earlier.

Speaking about the fight, White said on Saturday that McGregor’s return had been “all about timing”.

“There’s all kinds of things that go on behind the scenes and it’s all about timing. Chandler’s been ready but Conor hasn’t been ready,” White said.

“We talked about this in one of the press conferences recently, he had a lot of obligations that he had to deal with.

“What you don’t want him doing is accepting a fight when he’s got a ton of obligations and he can’t train 100 per cent for a fight, so here we are tonight.”