CONOR MCGREGOR's comeback fight may not be against Michael Chandler.
MMA's top promotion announced in February that their poster boy would be welcomed back to the cage by fan favourite Chandler after their coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter.
But the fight has yet to come to fruition due to McGregor's absence from the United States Anti-Doping Agency's testing pool.
Doubts over the Irishman sharing the octagon with the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion Chandler continue to grow with each passing week.
Chandler, however, is confident the multi-million-pound fight will come to fruition – although McGregor's manager admits there are several other options for The Notorious' return.
Paradigm Sports chief Audie Attar told MMA Junkie: “He always could look elsewhere.
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“Everybody’s always doubting him in different ways and criticizing him, and being critical.
" But ultimately, they’ll see when he steps into that octagon, and ultimately I think they can eat their words then.
“Until then, we’re just going to do our thing, and go about it the right way.
"He’s preparing at the end of the day, and that’s the most important thing.
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"Chandler makes sense, but so do others. But, Chandler is who he has his sights set on.
"We did that show knowing that that matchup would be next.”
McGregor, 35, missed the deadline to re-enrol in the USADA testing pool last month and seal an end-of-year return.
UFC and USADA policy require returning fighters to be in the pool for a minimum of six months before they're eligible to compete.
The UFC can, however, issue an exemption to the six-month notice rule in "exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to the athlete."
And Attar insists neither he nor McGregor will try to bend the rules to enable him to return earlier.
He said: “One of the things everybody forgets is that Conor was one of the most tested athletes when he was competing.
"And we’re going about things the right way.
“We’re in active discussions with the UFC, we’ve spoken to USADA, and we’re going to do things the right way.
“That’s all I’m going to say about that.
"The thing about Conor McGregor is, people will speculate and stories run wild that are nine times out of 10 very inaccurate and false, so that’s all I’ll say about that.
"But certainly, he’s looking for a comeback in 2024.”
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Former two-division champion McGregor hasn't set foot inside the octagon since breaking his leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier two years ago.
Ireland's first and only UFC champion insists he will be back before the year is out, tweeting he'll fight in "December" when recently asked to provide an update by a fan.
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