Michael Chandler is looking forward to facing Conor McGregor and ending their long-standing UFC rivalry for good.
Chandler and McGregor have been linked to a UFC fight for several years now, and even served as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter in anticipation of their Octagon encounter. However, when they were finally scheduled to fight at UFC 303 in June, McGregor was forced off the card due to a toe injury, and the status of the fight was once again uncertain.
Now, after waiting years for McGregor to heal and return to the Octagon, Chandler seems eager to move on to the next chapter of his career.
Talk about Beat the heatHe expressed his eagerness to fight McGregor as soon as possible and put the rivalry behind him.
“I’m never going to play the victim,” Chandler said. “I’ve got a wife and two kids, I’ve got businesses, I’ve got all that. It’s more fair, with all due respect, I’m willing to leave you behind. I’m willing to put you on your back, in the middle of an octagon, wherever that is — hopefully in Las Vegas — and I can walk out of that octagon and never have to think about you again.”
Conor McGregor, 36, has not fought since suffering a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021 that left him with a badly broken leg. It was his second straight loss to Poirier after a knockout loss in January of that year.
In his last fight, in 2020, the former two-weight champion stopped Donald Cerrone in the first round. He then failed to capture the title against Khabib Nurmagomedov, a fight he lost by submission.
Despite his long absence, McGregor remains the biggest star in MMA history – and the biggest payday available to those who fight him.
That explains why Chandler was willing to wait so long for their fight to come to fruition. The former Bellator lightweight champion hasn’t fought since being submitted by Poirier in 2022. That was preceded by a knockout win over Tony Ferguson earlier that same year.
