Conor McGregor is no stranger to intense faceoffs with opponents and that was no different when he stared down Michael Chandler for the first time during filming for The Ultimate Fighter 31.
In the first footage from the upcoming season, which debuts on ESPN on Tuesday, May 30, McGregor is seen shoving Chandler during an intense moment between the coaches when they came nose-to-nose in the cage.
The brief clip showed glimpses of the season to come where McGregor will return to coach the reality show for the second time after previously joining the series just after he became the interim UFC featherweight champion for the first time in 2015.
On that occasion, McGregor was coaching opposite Urijah Faber but they were never slated to fight each other so there’s definitely a different energy now that he’s squaring off with an opponent in Chandler. McGregor will also be making his return to action after suffering a devastating broken leg in his last outing against Dustin Poirier in 2021.
McGregor and Chandler will coach teams of bantamweights and lightweights with a mix of veterans and up and coming prospects supplying the roster for the teams.
The upcoming season will run through Aug. 15 with McGregor and Chandler then expected to face each other in the octagon, although there’s still no date attached to the fight.
McGregor still has to undergo six months of drug testing under the UFC’s anti-doping policy before he’s allowed to fight, and as of the latest update posted on May 5, the former two-division UFC champion hasn’t been tested yet in 2023.