UFC CEO Dana White remains unconcerned about Michael Chandler's patience while waiting for his anticipated fight with Conor McGregor.
Originally targeted for the fourth quarter of the year, the McGregor-Chandler matchup faced delays as McGregor postponed his entry into the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool, a prerequisite for competition that requires six months and two clean tests.
Having not fought since suffering a leg injury in his July 2021 bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, McGregor finally entered the testing pool in early October, signaling his return to the sport. Despite McGregor's recent frustrations about ongoing negotiations for an April comeback, his coach, John Kavanagh, disclosed that the date had been pushed back to the summer.
While much attention has centered on McGregor, Chandler's growing impatience has become apparent. Nevertheless, Dana White asserts that Chandler, who has already been inactive for over a year, is in a position to exercise patience.
“The good thing for guys like Chandler, and you know there’s a lot of sh*t talk about fighter pay and all that other sh*t – you don’t see these guys hurrying up to fight,” White said on a recent episode of the “Full Send Podcast” with the Nelk Boys. “Jon Jones takes off for f*cking years. Chandler can hang out and wait for f*cking Conor. When you think about Chandler, Chandler was fighting for f*cking Bellator, right? Now Chandler can just sit around and take his time and wait for Conor however long it takes, so these guys are all in good positions where they can wait for the right time, the right fight.”
