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Conor McGregor appears unfazed after UFC boss Dana White emphatically ruled out a bout between the Irish fighter and Michael Chandler.

The 'Notorious' has not stepped into the octagon since his defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021. McGregor and Chandler, who were rival coaches on 'The Ultimate Fighter' season 31 reality series in 2023, were scheduled to face off a year later. However, an injury sustained during training forced the Irishman to withdraw.

In recent months, the former two-weight UFC champion has been gearing up for a potential comeback. The 37-year-old showed interest after US President Donald Trump announced in July that he would be hosting a UFC event at the White House.

Since then, McGregor has been pushing for a showdown with Chandler, but White has dismissed the idea. In an interview with Complex, the UFC head was asked if a match between McGregor and his long-time adversary at the White House could happen. "No," was his blunt reply. "I mean, that was a couple of years ago.

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"No [that's nothing I would entertain]." He later added: "We'll see if Conor's going to come back or not. We've been talking about it for a while - we'll see how it plays out. I don't know, though." Despite the setback, the Dublin fighter doesn't seem fazed. That said, he still appears keen to be involved in the historic June 14 event. "Pick who ya want!" McGregor wrote on X - formerly known as Twitter. "The Mac sweats nothing and nobody. I'm TASTY SHOTS."

McGregor faced the prospect of missing the event entirely after initially receiving a two-year ban for drugs in October following three missed tests in 2024. However, the Irishman is now serving an 18-month suspension and will be eligible to compete again from March 20.

There's unlikely to be any shortage of fighters eager to face the UFC legend. But the development represents a significant setback for Chandler, who had been confident he would finally meet his rival in the octagon. "The odds are higher than they ever have been, at this point," he told ESPN. "It's no secret, obviously, that I want to fight Conor. And it's no secret, from the things that he is posting, the interviews he is doing, the number of times he has said my name, posting a video of me and him and our highlights... he wants to fight me, and I want to fight him."I mean, that was a couple of years ago.

"He wants to fight at the White House. I want nothing more than to be wearing the red, white and blue and walking onto the White House lawn. You know how hard it is to put percentages on anything in mixed martial arts, it's such a crazy sport and that's why we love it. But one thing is for sure -- Conor wants to fight me at the White House, I want to fight him at the White House. Conversations are being had, things are moving in that direction.

"But we will never know when this thing is going to be announced. All I know is that I will start training soon, laser-focused on June. They will keep holding the cards close to their chest as they always do, to keep things a secret." He added: "Conversations are happening. I am trying to make this thing happen. Conor and I have our history, it boiled over a couple of times. Words were said, pushes happened, we have a history."

The historic White House event will act as a massive celebration in the build-up to Saturday night's bouts - which coincidentally falls on Trump's birthday, 14 June. Disappointingly for supporters, tickets won't be available to the general public, but White has devised an alternative to please his dedicated fanbase. The 56 year old recently revealed to CBS that the promotion will stage a live screening event close to the White House. "We literally just got done going through all the logistics of how to set it up there, how many people we can have," White revealed. "It's looking like we'll have 5,000 people live on the White House lawn," he added. "It will be on the south lawn and then across the street is the park, it's called the Ellipse, I think, and we can have 85,000 people there. We're going to have big screens and we're going to have a stage, we'll have music throughout the day."

The UFC boss further stated: "We're basically going to take over D.C. that whole week with lots of different things for fight fans. Then obviously a one of one event to be able to have it at the White House. Fighters will actually walk from the Oval Office to the octagon."