UFC confirmation means Conor McGregor will not fight again this year

Life is rarely dull where Conor McGregor is involved.

'The Notorious' will not fight again in 2017 after the UFC confirmed its' main and co-main events for the year-ending UFC 219 show in Las Vegas. Holly Holm will attempt to put another MMA legend to task when she takes on Women's Featherweight champion Cris Cyborg on Saturday, December 30. That championship bout will be the main attraction with Khabib Nurmagomedov's return to the UFC confirmed as a three-round tilt with Edson Barboza. https://twitter.com/latimespugmire/status/935348982594772992 The rest of the card features some decent fights but has been hurt by the injury withdrawal of Dominick Cruz. There had been hopes that Conor McGregor would be involved but all such talk appears to have been shelved since the Dubliner invaded the cage at Bellator Dublin and had an altercation with referee Marc Goddard and a ring official. Mohegan Sun Department of Athletic Regulation director Mike Mazzulli told The MMA Hour, on November 20, that the UFC had informed him that McGregor's actions at the 3 Arena cost him that headline event against interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson. He commented:

"So they did hit him. He’s not gonna be making any more money this year and I commend UFC for that. I really do."

However, it must be noted that McGregor's agent, Audie Attar, did state that Mazzulli's claim was "not true" without elaborating on whether his client had ever intended on fighting again this calendar year.   His return is unlikely to be until Spring 2018. https://www.instagram.com/p/BcBqNAGgn5Q/?taken-by=thenotoriousmma It has now been 13 months since he won his lightweight belt but there has been no talk of him having to vacate his title.