Conor McGregor was involved in an intense face-off at event in Dubai, no one saw this coming

Conor McGregor was involved in an intense face-off against a former UFC champion at an event in Dubai on Saturday.

McGregor hasn't fought in the UFC since his crushing defeat to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

But he's closing in on his Octagon return, with a date slated for early next year. He's excited fight fans ahead of his comeback, having released footage of his sparring online.

Michael Chandler appears to be the opponent who will welcome the 35-year-old back to the cage, with the pair going up against each other on The Ultimate Fighter.

Even though Chandler is seemingly his next fight, McGregor had a heated face-off with Petr Yan. Check it out below:

The Irishman and Yan attended an IBA boxing event in Dubai on Saturday.

Both fighters went inside the ring and had a face-off, with the IBA president standing between them.

The boxing chief held up the sanctioning organisation's belt as McGregor and Yan squared off against each other in the ring.

The pair of former UFC champions were involved in a heated face-off before enjoying a warm embrace.

Yan, who once held the UFC bantamweight title, won't be fighting the 'Notorious' next despite their exchange.

McGregor's opponent is set to be Chandler, who admitted to being frustrated over the delay in announcing the bout.

"[Have I been] frustrated at times? Absolutely. Annoyed? Maybe a little bit here and there," he told Ariel Helwani.

"Because we get that rush, we love fighting, we love competing. I do train a lot so it is hard to train - even me, even being known as the guy who trains a lot and I live this life, it is hard to have your training but not have that carrot dangled in front of you and that light at the end of the tunnel of an actual date.

"But anybody who has seen all of my fights in the UFC thus far or even the fights before that, I’ve been extremely active over the last 15 years."

Like McGregor, Chandler is also coming off a loss to Poirier as he suffered a submission defeat in their UFC 281 bout last year.

Topics: Conor McGregor, UFC

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

@NasJabbar