Exclusive:
Michael Chandler is still desperate to fight Conor McGregor and revealed his true feelings about their fight falling through
Michael Chandler suspects Conor McGregor will return to the UFC in the future and is demanding the next time he signs a contract to fight him that the bout goes ahead.
The 38-year-old has a lot of bad blood with the former lightweight and featherweight champion, coaching opposite the ‘Notorious’ one on the 31st season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) last year. During the season, McGregor headed a bunch of up and coming prospects from the regional circuit, while Chandler coached a roster full of combatants who had previously featured in the promotion who had since been cut.
Team Chandler’s Brad Katona, Kurt Holobaugh, and Cody Gibson ended up winning the show and earning respective UFC contracts, and fight fans expected to see the Irishman take on ‘Iron’ Michael in the aftermath given the bad blood which had occurred during filming – which famously culminated in McGregor shoving his rival in the face before almost coming to blows.
Unfortunately, McGregor hadn’t entered USADA’s strict testing pool in time to give the show the grand finale it deserved, but Dana White, Hunter Campbell and Sean Shelby eventually announced that the two would meet in the Octagon come June 30, 2024 to headline UFC 303 to cap off International Fight Week.
However, fight fans were left disappointed when McGregor pulled out of the bout in its build-up, citing a broken pinky-toe as a good enough reason for the absence. Chandler, of course, took quite the time away from the Octagon to prepare and reserve himself for McGregor’s comeback – only to be let down last-minute by his foe.
And when asked on how he felt when he was dropped in it at the eleventh hour by McGregor in an exclusive chat with Mirror Fighting, Chandler explained: “The fight that never happened, what could have been yeah. I would be lying to you if I didn’t say that it was a tough moment, but overall, if people can look at their lives and realise that all the bad things that have happened to them usually work out for their good if they continue to stay diligent and work hard and believe.
“Every single bad thing in my life, every single setback in my life, every single loss in my life has always turned out to be a good thing at some point. You look back and say ‘Okay I’m able to learn X, Y, and Z because of it. I was able to grow as a human being, I’m in a great spot’.
“But during the process it was tough. Being the guy on the other side of the headlines with Conor McGregor is tough because he is so up and down and says a lot of things and he’s always in the media. Then you’ve got the fans weighing in, the media weighing in, it was an interesting process but I handled it pretty darn well compared to how most would have.
“And I grew throughout the process.” Alex Pereira stepped in on short notice to save the event, besting Jiri Prochazka to put himself in the frame for a light-heavyweight title shot with Jamahal Hill – a fight he later went on to win. However, Chandler believes that a fight with the Irishman could still be on the cards in the future – expecting McGregor to make a comeback in the future despite being absent from the UFC since his 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier, in which he broke his leg.
‘Iron’ Michael explained: “I still believe Conor comes back at some point, and when he does, that road goes through Nashville, Tennessee, and Michael Chandler. We have to finish TUF 31, we have to get a fight poster that actually comes to fruition for a fight, we have to get a contract that actually comes to fruition for a fight but either way if the fight with Conor never happens, I am completely content – I wish him well.
“But I have a sneaky suspicion Conor does not want to sail off into the sunset the way he has right now. He wants to come back and needs to come back for Conor McGregor’s legacy.” Chandler’s attention will be firmly fixed on old foe Charles Oliveira come Saturday evening, as he faces ‘Do Bronx’ in UFC 309’s co-main event at Madison Square Garden.
Oliveira and Chandler initially met at the very same arena in May 2021 for the vacant lightweight UFC title – and the all-American had his dreams “shattered” in the second round when his Brazilian nemesis knocked him out with a looping left hook. Speaking on his opponent for Saturday night, Chandler said: “I’m fighting a guy that I’m familiar with, a guy that I’ve already lost to, a guy that shattered my dreams.
“So this is a perfect way to right a wrong and get some revenge. I respect the heck out of Charles Oliveira but I’m excited to go out there competing against him and not just compete against him, but beat him on Saturday night.”
When asked what he learned from his initial loss at the hands of Oliveira, Chandler added: “When you’ve got history with a guy, when you’ve lost to a guy. I’d much rather be the guy who lost the last fight in a rematch than the guy who won. I feel like all the pressure is on him to beat me again.
“And the difference between he and I is that I only had two and a half minutes of cage time – two and a half minutes of UFC Octagon time – at the time in which I fought Charles Oliveira. I knocked out Dan Hooker after two and a half minutes, got thrust into a new training camp for a May fight after fighting in late January.
“So I didn’t have a lot of time to grow, didn’t have a lot of time to learn who I was and continue to build inside of the UFC. So more patient, more calculated, still violent, still fast action. I’m gonna be quick but not in a hurry, I’m gonna be fast but not in a rush, and I’m gonna systematically and surgically break this man down until he looks for the exit sign, and I get my hand raised by a dominant finish.”
Jon “Bones” Jones takes on Stipe Miocic at UFC® 309: JONES vs MIOCIC on Saturday, November 16. Tune in to TNT Sports Box Office to watch the fight. TNT Sports is available through its streaming destination discovery+ and across all major TV platforms. See here for more information.
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