McGregor announces UFC return on Jan 18 in Las Vegas

[October 24, 2019]    By Philip O'Connor
 
 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Irish mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor plans to return to the UFC octagon in Las Vegas on Jan. 18, he told a media conference in Moscow on Thursday, against an opponent he declined to name.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

McGregor said he wants three fights in 2020, including rematches with Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who defeated the Irishman in a lightweight title bout last year, the Irishman's most recent MMA fight.

"The return of the 'notorious' Conor McGregor will take place on Jan. 18th in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada ... I am in prime physical condition, I have agreed the date with the company," McGregor told reporters.

"If I was to give you people the name (of the opponent), which I would love to do, the UFC would flip it because they are a crafty company, so for me, here's this one - ask the UFC who the opponent is," he added.

Following that bout, McGregor said he wants a trilogy fight against Nate Diaz, who beat him in March 2016 before McGregor had his revenge with a win in August that year, and then a rematch in Moscow against lightweight champ Nurmagomedov.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by David Holmes)

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