The last UFC pay-per-view event of the year has a lot of different possibilities to headline.

Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return bout against Michael Chandler was supposed to happen on International Fight Week at UFC 303 in June. Unfortunately, a broken pinky toe for the Irishman axed that plan and pushed the thought of the matchup back to December at the earliest. That’s according to each fighter anyway, as UFC CEO Dana White has since stated McGregor will not fight in 2024.

Meanwhile, new champions like Belal Muhammad at welterweight want to take the reigns and headline the 2024 close-out. Then there’s the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who had hoped to fight in either October or November until he revealed the severity of some nagging injuries. In his eventual next title defense, Makhachev is expected to rematch the currently NAC-suspended Arman Tsarukyan. According to the top contender, that time frame is the current hope.

“[Fight with Makhachev] was supposed to take place in October, but they have put it off,” Tsarukyan told Ushatayka (h/t Red Corner MMA). “Now, it’s being negotiated for December.

“It depends on when Islam is coming back. If he needs a surgery and returns next spring, then they will put the interim belt on the line.”

Tsarukyan, 27, has expressed the idea of an interim crown since Makhachev provided his health updates. The problem with that is determining who would fit the bill to stand across him in such an unnecessary battle.

Ultimately, UFC 300 in April became somewhat of a stall along with Tsarukyan’s biggest career win, a split decision over Charles Oliveira. Tsarukyan’s altercation with a fan on the night got him into trouble with the NAC and led to his nine-month suspension.

The lightweight was expected to reduce his suspension by three months with an anti-bullying PSA but now if the Makhachev rematch happens in December at the earliest, why would he?

“If my fight is scheduled for December, there’s no point to do so,” Tsarukyan said.

---

TOP STORIES

Speculation. Alex Pereira suspects Israel Adesanya fought injured against Dricus du Plessis; Adesanya responds

R.I.P. UFC, Strikeforce veteran Benji Radach dies at 45

Weird. Joaquin Buckley swears ‘no beef’ with Daniel Cormier but ‘I’ve been praying to the MMA gods that I run into DC’

Drama. Magomed Ankalaev responds to ‘liar’ Alex Pereira over ducking accusations

Reflection. Khabib Nurmagomedov on post-fight brawl after beating Conor McGregor: ‘I really wanted to bite someone’s heart’

Comeback. Bobby Lashley considering potential return to combat sports after leaving WWE

Absurd. MMA media personalities Ben Davis, Oscar Willis set to fight at BKFC 67

---

LET’S WATCH

Bye-bye, zeros.

Best of UFC Vegas 96.

Full fight.

Solid crossover.

Mic’d up Burns.

---

LISTEN UP

On To the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses the matches to make after UFC Vegas 96.

---

MORNING MUSIC

Go to Twitter, use the #MorningReport hashtag, or find one of my tweets with it, and drop me a jam you’re currently really into. I’ll pick the best one alongside my daily choice and give you a shoutout! You can also share in the comments below — those are just harder to sift through sometimes!

This month’s full playlist:

---

SOCIAL SCROLL DOWN

Edgy Brah.

One more time.

Solid.

Working.

War ready.

I hope he had fun.

---

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Serhiy Sidey (10-2) vs. Garrett Armfield (10-4); UFC Edmonton, Nov. 2

Damir Ismagulov (24-3) vs. Adriano Martins (29-12, 1 NC); Alash Pride 100, Sept. 21

---

FINAL THOUGHTS

Arman is hilariously on point with his thought process here.

Thanks for reading!

---

EXIT POLL

---

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.