Conor McGregor was challenged to return to the UFC by Michael Chandler during an appearance on WWE's Monday Night Raw, as the much-anticipated crossover between the UFC and WWE finally took place.
Chandler, who was in the front row at a WWE match, swiped the microphone from announcer Samantha Irvin and boldly declared: "You are now in the presence of the most exciting UFC fighter on the planet. Conor McGregor, get your candy a** back to the octagon. We got some unfinished business. I'll see you at the top."
His speech was stopped when WWE promptly muted his microphone, with Paul Levesque (Triple H), WWE's chief content officer, later tweeting: "Anything can happen at a TKO Group takeover." The merger between Endeavor, UFC's parent company, and WWE was announced last September, making a new brand called TKO.
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There has been speculation about whether the two entities would meet on either brand's shows since the merger. "Where we want to get is where every UFC fan is a WWE fan, and every WWE fan is a UFC fan," Lawrence Epstein, the UFC's senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, told ESPN.
Last year, McGregor and Chandler were coaches on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter. This led many fans to believe that McGregor would return to the octagon soon. On December 31, the former two-division champion announced on social media that he would face Chandler during International Fight Week, but the fight never happened.
The pair continued to hint that they would fight on a big card, with McGregor saying he would like to return at UFC 300. The Irishman also shared his
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