Conor McGregor will be welcomed back to the octagon by Michael ChandlerCredit: GETTY

The pair have been matched up for well over a yearCredit: TWITTER@THENOTORIOUSMMA

The Notorious will be back in the cage at UFC 303 on June 29Credit: GETTY

McGregor’s absence from the USADA testing pool, however, delayed the fight.

And by the time he’d re-entered the pool in October, the promotion had opted to delay the Return of the Mac until 2024.

That seemingly married up perfectly for the Irishman to make his long-awaited comeback this weekend at UFC 300.

UFC supremo Dana White, however, decided not to have the Dubliner topping the bill of the historic card.

But McGregor and Chandler will have top billing at UFC 303 on June 29, which was announced after the UFC 300 post-fight press conference.

Former two-division champion McGregor, 35, hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his left leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier nearly three years ago.

But he’s been champing at the bit to get back in the octagon ever since completing his painstaking rehab.

He said last October: “I’ve been kept from my living for almost three years now.

“Understand that. I came through what I came through. I’m sitting on an injury and a loss.

“You hear what Alexander Volkanovski said? I relate. I must return to my way of living.

“This is my job. It’s beyond frustrating. … I just want the date. Give me the date, please. That’s it.”

McGregor hasn’t tasted victory in nearly FOUR-AND-A-HALF YEARS and plans to get back to winning ways with a brutal head kick KO with his new steel-reinforced limb.

Mystic Mac said: “I’m going to kick this guy in the head. He’s just tailor-made for being kicked all over the place.

“And that’s what I’m aiming for, I’m aiming to wrap this steel bar around the opponent.

“And you’ll see a visual of the leg hanging off, and then you’re going to see a visual of a head hanging off.”

Conor McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his left leg nearly three years agoCredit: AP