Conor McGregor is on the brink of making his long-awaited UFC returnCredit: GETTY

The former two-division champion recently re-entered the USADA drug testing poolCredit: GETTY

The Notorious has claimed his comeback clash with Michael Chandler will headline UFC 300Credit: TWITTER@THENOTORIOUSMMA

The UFC’s partnership with the anti-doping agency ends on December 31, although the promotion is adamant McGregor won’t return earlier than the six months he would’ve required to be in the pool had the partnership been renewed.

That timeline lines up perfectly for a return in April, the month promotion’s 300th pay-per-view offering is expected to take place.

And McGregor recently wrote in a now-deleted X post: “Picturing me running up this motherf***er with a chainsaw, UFC 300 is mine!!!

“This is Sparta baby, break the panties out.”

MMA fans across the world fully expect McGregor’s long-overdue showdown with Chandler to close out the card, which is expected to take place in Las Vegas.

But the prospect of having the former two-division headline the event has yet to cross the mind of UFC president and newly-minted CEO Dana White.

The veteran promoter, 54, said: “I literally have nothing planned for Conor McGregor right now.

“The paperwork is being submitted. We’ll play it by ear, [we’ll] see how things work out.

“There’s still a lot of things that have to happen as far as fights go, and then we’ll decide where he’s going to land.”

White, however, admits the UFC brass are currently devising plans for the historic card.

He said: “I think we have fights all the way made up until February 3rd or 10th. Or something like that.

“And we’ve got ideas for March and April.”

McGregor hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

His showdown with Chandler – his rival coach on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter – was expected to take place this year but was ultimately delayed due to his absence from the USADA pool.

Chandler has been patiently on the sidelines waiting for official confirmation of the clash, which he expects to headline UFC 300.

He told MMA Fighting: “My heart of hearts says the biggest fight we’ve seen in a very long time has to go down on the biggest card that the UFC is going to put together since UFC 200, since UFC 100.

“My heart of hearts, my gut says we might be waiting until UFC 300.

“Good thing I’ve got a lot of things to keep me busy.

“And I get an opportunity to train for Conor for a very long time.”

Conor McGregor hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his leg in July 2021