Dana White finally reveals the opponent he has in mind for Conor McGregor's return

Dana White (left), Conor McGregor (right) [Image credit: @thenotoriousmma via Instagram]

Dana White has been asked questions regarding Conor McGregor's return ever since the Irishman broke his leg at UFC 264. His imminent comeback and potential opponent for that has been talked about to death as Conor McGregor recovered from the comfort of his home and vacationed with his family from the extravagance of his yacht.

Several names were thrown around who would make a perfect fit opposite 'The Notorious One', with the Nate Diaz trilogy fight being among the frontrunners. McGregor himself started and rekindled several beefs on social media, including an unlikely feud with Henry Cejudo.

In a recent TMZ Sports interview, Dana White finally took the name of Michael Chandler as a possible opponent for Conor McGregor and stated that the fight interests him. The UFC president was quick to clarify that nothing is official yet and there are several options in front of them. However, Chandler proved himself to be explosive, both in terms of fighting and self-promotion, which makes him an ideal contest for the UFC's biggest moneymaker. White stated:

"I really like [Michael] Chandler vs. Conor [McGregor] after Chandler's last fight. There's plenty of fights to make. I don't know if that's the one but we'll see what the landscape looks like when Conor comes back... I'm just saying after his last interview, his last fight, Conor's ranked No.8, he's ranked No.5 - it makes a lot of sense right now."

Catch Michael Chandler's fiery post-fight interview with Joe Rogan where he called out McGregor:

THE CALLOUT TO END ALL CALLOUTS. 🎤🔥

@MikeChandlerMMA calls out @TheNotoriousMMA...at WELTERWEIGHT. #UFC274 https://t.co/Vm7vuzZlxr

Dana White also heaped praise on Jiri Prochazka and said that he had enough respect for Valentina Shevchenko to try and book the Amanda Nunes trilogy if that's what 'Bullet' really wants.

Watch the video below:

UFC has no lamb to slaughter for Conor McGregor, says Chael Sonnen

Several MMA entities, including Joe Rogan, have been of the opinion that Conor McGregor should get his feet wet with a "tune-up" fight even though he has been called out by Charles Oliveira straight up.

A little tune-up fight for Conor McGregor is what Joe Rogan thinks is necessary before jumping out against Kamaru Usman. https://t.co/PQx0oFBgkj

However, Chael Sonnen took it upon himself to explain why that is not a likely scenario.

In one of his Bad Guy Inc. videos, Sonnen opined that if Conor McGregor was to have a tune-up fight before he challenges for the title, it is understandable that the said opponent would need to be someone that the Irishman has a significant chance of beating. That fighter does not exist within the UFC, since McGregor would not fight a non-top-10 opponent, and anyone ranked within the top 10 in lightweight has the ability to give the Irish southpaw a hard time.

"[The relatively weaker opponent in a tune-up fight] is a lamb coming to slaughter and he absolutely understands it and everybody knows it. Within the UFC that human being doesn't exist. Can we get Conor somebody out of the top 10? No, that's silly. He's going to be a main event, he's going to be on pay-per-view, we're going to have somebody within the top 10... [Among the top 10] who is it that you believe would be the tune-up fight and once you realize that person doesn't exist there is no guarantee that he's gonna go out there and get good work."

The lightweight division currently has no champion after Charles Oliveira was stripped of the belt following the weight-miss fiasco at UFC 274. Islam Makhachev is being touted as a potential match-up for a title fight against the Brazilian. However, he might have to go through Beneil Dariush first.