In some MMA news, Michael Chandler has hit back at Renato Moicano after the latter criticised his decision for waiting for the Conor McGregor fight.

The fight between McGregor and Chandler had been teased for some time only for it to fall through this year. McGregor’s failur to enroll in USADA meant that the missed the six-month period that fighters needed to show two negative USADA tests.

Therefore, if a fight is to go ahead, then it would be in 2024. That drew a lot of criticism from Moicano who could not fathom why Chandler would hang around for the fight. After all, Chandler has been out of the cage since he lost to Dustin Poirier in 2022.

Moicano On Chandler

"The division is a mess right now. We have guys like Michael Chandler, he’s delusional… Conor [McGregor] is not going to fight him. Maybe never…Conor is on another level of craziness right now, we can see from the past two years how [much] stuff he’s been doing outside of UFC, and I think he loves the attention, but he doesn’t like to fight anymore…Chandler, get over it my brother, you’re not going to have this fight…I don’t know what Chandler is going to do," Moicano stated

Nevertheless, a few things have changed since then. McGregor confirmed that his return was imminent, which was followed up by a post suggesting that he had enrolled in USADA.

Although there is no official confirmation from USADA, it does suggest that McGregor’s return in close. So much so that Chandler hinted that the fight could happen at UFC 300. And as a result, Moicano comments did not go down well with Chandler.

Chandler Responds

"I get people calling me delusional, ‘Why are you waiting? You’re wasting all these years.’…I believe we get lazy or we get busy, and at 37 years old, I feel better than a lot of 27-year-olds. Taking good care of my body and taking good care of my mind even with the wear and tear that I’ve put on my body…I’m not worried about the ‘getting old’ thing, I feel phenomenal, and I have a lot of tread left on these tires. If anything, I needed a little bit of rest…so, a little bit of time off isn’t a bad thing. I’m building things outside of fighting and people will be able to see the fruits of my labor when the time comes," Chandler stated

Nevertheless, the pressure will be on Chandler to perform. The build up has been ongoing since the TUF 31 series which saw both fighters face each other as coaches.

Although Chandler did win the season with a better head-to-head record, a fight with McGregor is a different ball game. The Irishman became the first man to hold two titles in different weight classes successfully.

Although his form has not been the best of late, McGregor has shown that he can come good on the biggest stages. As such, will Chandler regret taking on this potential fight.