Michael Chandler expresses strong confidence in a potential bout with Conor McGregor.
Rumors of this fight have swirled since their stint as coaches on TUF 31, where Chandler came out on top against McGregor. Despite the show concluding, an official agreement between the two fighters has yet to be reached. McGregor's return from his injury has been hindered by the USADA testing regulations, which mandate fighters to provide two negative samples within a six-month timeframe.
Meanwhile, Chandler's inactivity, following his defeat to Dustin Poirier in 2022, hasn't been conducive to negotiations. Nevertheless, Chandler maintains an optimistic outlook regarding the eventual occurrence of the fight.
"There's no way that Conor [McGregor] comes back and doesn't fight me. If Conor doesn't fight me, he's probably just not coming back."
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) October 4, 2023
Michael Chandler says his fight with McGregor is "still happening" 👀 #TheMMAHour
▶️ https://t.co/CGMWTbXneJ pic.twitter.com/ySOovGlUWS
“The status is, unequivocally, the fight is still happening. The fight is not booked for a date, the fight is not booked for a venue, but the fight is booked between Chandler and Conor. There’s no way Conor comes back and doesn’t fight me. If Conor doesn’t fight me, he’s probably just not coming back, and that’s out of my control. He’s coming back, he’s fighting me,” says Chandler
These remarks hold weight, particularly in light of McGregor's recent social media post hinting at his enrollment with USADA. "The Notorious" disclosed that he had "submitted my stuff to Novitzky," potentially positioning himself for a comeback at UFC 300. This aligns with Chandler's expectation that the fight could materialize in April of the upcoming year.
"Submitted my stuff to Novitzky" - Conor McGregor pic.twitter.com/V75lLS6IrA
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) October 5, 2023
“At this point, by deductive reasoning, by process of elimination, there’s a main event in December, there’s a main event in November, we’re not going to not be a main event, so that pushes it into 2024. I’m ready to fight in January, February, March, April, May, whatever. We’ll see,” says Chandler