Chandler Still Chasing McGregor – ‘There’s No Way He Doesn’t Fight Me’
Michael Chandler is confident that Conor McGregor will fight him on his return.
Their UFC 303 fight was called off after McGregor pulled out with a broken toe. The Irishman hopes to be back for September, putting him in contention for a possible fight at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The UFC 306 event will be sponsored by Riyadh Season on September 14, the first time the Saudis will host a UFC event overseas. While that may be true, Dana White does not expect McGregor to fight this year.
This news leaves Chandler waiting even longer. Chandler has been waiting for the fight since their rivalry on the TUF 32 series. Chandler won the team’s challenge, while McGregor won the coach’s challenge. They both have not fought their losses to Dustin Poirier. The Notorious broke his leg in his defeat against Poirier at UFC 264, his third loss in four UFC fights. Meanwhile, Chandler came up short against Poirier at UFC 281. Rather than take fights in between to remain active, Chandler chose to remain active.
McGregor vs. Chandler
“I’m not really that worried about it. Conor can’t— at this point, and I’ve said this publicly, I’m not letting him off the hook. For a while there, yeah, of course he would love to fight somebody other than Michael Chandler, with what I bring to the octagon.
“I think there’s no way he comes back to the UFC and doesn’t fight me. So if I do pivot, if there are other names being thrown out, if there are huge fights that I can go ahead and pivot and take, whenever he is ready to come back, his road back to the UFC goes straight through Nashville, Tennessee, and Michael Chandler — and that’s it,” Chandler said
However, Chandler could pursue other alternatives. He has been linked with a fight against Max Holloway. Holloway is the BMF Champion, a belt he secured after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. With a second left in the fight, Holloway landed a huge right hand to stop The Highlight. Chandler is open to taking that fight for the BMF Title.
Chandler’s Options
That has the benefit of making the McGregor fight even bigger if he secures the title. However, a loss to Holloway makes a Chandler-McGregor fight less credible. Holloway has also expressed his desire to face McGregor. McGregor beat Holloway in their only clash in 2013. The Notorious won by a unanimous decision. But since then, Holloway’s career has had a massive resurgence, setting up the narrative for a rematch. Charles Oliveira has also been mentioned as a name for Chandler. Oliveira is a former UFC Lightweight Champion, making him a credible name. However, McGregor is the fight that Chandler wants.
“At the very onset of this process, that size of a fight with that amount of eyeballs, that’s what we’re striving to as mixed martial artists. We get into this sport to be the best and to be on the biggest stages under the brightest lights on the biggest platforms, and that checks all boxes.
“Now, especially with the storyline, with the intrigue, waiting in the wings, the buildup, the marination of this entire thing, yeah, I think it’s going to be very satisfying when I make true on my word to show up whenever the next date is and knock him out. It was going to be the second round and now he lit a fire under me, it’s probably going to be the first round,” Chandler said
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