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McGregor announces return fight will be Jan. 18

Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC / UFC / Getty

Conor McGregor's highly anticipated return to the Octagon is set.

The UFC star announced at a press conference in Moscow that his next fight will take place Jan. 18 in Las Vegas.

McGregor said he knows who his opponent will be but suggested the UFC would "flip" the plan if he gave a name.

Donald Cerrone and Justin Gaethje are the two top candidates to face him, with the former being the front-runner, sources told ESPN's Marc Raimondi and Ariel Helwani.

"Yes, we are targeting that date for Conor's return but no deals are even close to being signed," UFC president Dana White told Brett Okamoto of ESPN.

McGregor plans to fight three times in 2020. He said he'll target the winner of Nate Diaz-Jorge Masvidal after his return, then challenge the victor of a potential lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.

His last trip to the Octagon came in October 2018 when he lost a title bout to Nurmagomedov. McGregor said he wants a rematch to take place in Russia.

"That is the bout we want," McGregor said. "We want this bout in Moscow. The people of Russia deserve this bout to take place. The people of the world deserve this bout to take place."

McGregor hasn't fought three times in a year since 2015 and has competed only once in the last three years.

Since his last trip to the Octagon, the 31-year-old McGregor was charged with assault for an incident in a Dublin pub and is reportedly under investigation for two separate sexual assault allegations in his native Ireland.

McGregor, a former two-division champion, owns a professional mixed martial arts record of 21-4. He's 2-2 in his last four bouts, dating back to his first clash with Diaz at UFC 196.

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