MMA

It's been one year since Conor McGregor last fought, but UFC president Dana White is hopeful the Notorious One's sabbatical comes to an end soon.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, White said McGregor is "starting to ramp up his training" after breaking his leg in his last fight and hopes he can fight again by "the end of this year, early next year."

McGregor underwent surgery on July 11, hours after his fight with Dustin Poirier was stopped at the end of the first round when he tried to plant his left foot and his leg collapsed under him.

In a statement released by his agent, Audie Attar, doctors said they were "confident" McGregor would "make a full recovery" and they "anticipate his return to the Octagon."

Speaking to SevereMMA (h/t MMAFighting.com) in February), McGregor said doctors told him in April he would be allowed to spar again, but he didn't provide a concrete timeline to fight again.

"Day by day, I feel better," he said. "They’re telling me to just take it easy, but I feel I can go, so I just need to kind of pull the reins back on my own self, so that’s kind of what I’m doing."

White said he was looking at Michael Chandler as McGregor's next opponent but noted "we'll see what the landscape looks like when Conor gets back."

Chandler snapped a two-fight losing skid on May 7 with a second-round TKO victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274.

Since defeating Jose Aldo to become the undisputed UFC featherweight champion in December 2015, McGregor has a 3-4 record in his last seven fights. He has lost each of his last two bouts, both to Poirier.

In addition to his mixed martial arts career, McGregor dabbled in boxing for a showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017. He lost the bout via TKO in the 10th round, but it was a massive financial success with 4.3 million pay-per-view buys.

Nick Diaz might want to face Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title, but UFC President Dana White doesn't plan to make it happen.

"I need to look out for Nick and make sure that Nick doesn't get hurt," White told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

Diaz returned from a six-year hiatus to face Robbie Lawler in September and suffered a third-round TKO loss by retirement. He later said he wants to continue his comeback.

"I wanna fight for the title. I don't wanna do all this—I'm 38 years old," Diaz told TMZ Sports in May.

When asked about facing Usman, the veteran responded, "I think I'll beat him."

White wasn't confident it would be a fair fight.

"Listen, there's no denying the Diaz brothers are tough kids, man. But talk to me about Nick Diaz versus Usman," White said. "Usman is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world."

Usman is ranked the top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC with a 20-1 career record and a perfect mark since joining the organization in 2015. Since winning his belt in 2019, the Nigerian Nightmare has successfully defended it five times.

White said May 31 he is setting up a fight between Usman and elite contender Leon Edwards.

As for Diaz, his popularity doesn't outweigh the fact he hasn't won a match since 2011. He has shared the Octagon with some big names, including Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, but he hasn't proved enough to earn a bout against Usman.

The California home of former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz was allegedly burglarized Friday, and an investigation is underway.

The Huntington Beach Police Department confirmed to TMZ Sports it was called about a burglary, but it didn't provide details about what type of items were missing.

Ortiz wasn't home at the time of the incident, per TMZ.

The longtime MMA star is a Huntington Beach native. He was elected to the City Council as its Mayor pro tempore in 2020 but stepped down after just six months.

"To put it simply, this job isn't working for me," Ortiz said while announcing his resignation at a June 2021 meeting.

His last MMA fight was a victory over Alberto Rodriguez, also known as former WWE wrestler Alberto Del Rio, at a Combate Americas event in December 2019. His career record stands at 21-12-1.

More recently, Ortiz faced off with fellow UFC alum Anderson Silva in a September 2021 boxing match. He lost by first-round knockout.

The 47-year-old grappler confirmed his intention to remain focused on the boxing ring after the loss.

"Yeah, I'll continue to box," Ortiz said. "I still want to box, I'd love to box. I'm just learning. I'm obviously inexperienced. I'm not a boxer, I'm a wrestler. And I'm gonna learn. I'm gonna keep learning."

No further information about the robbery was immediately released.