Michael Chandler remains hopeful for a fight with Conor McGregor in December despite UFC CEO Dana White’s mixed signals, but is prepared to move on if it doesn’t materialize.
Michael Chandler is still hopeful his fight with Conor McGregor happens. He’s seen how UFC CEO Dana White can say things to drum up interest that may not actually be wholly accurate.
Following Tuesday’s Contender Series card, White spoke with reporters. He said McGregor is ready to get back in the octagon for the first time in more than three years, but the former two-division champion won’t compete in 2024.
Chandler is ready and still hopes to fight McGregor. But he will finally move on to other opportunities if that can’t happen.
“If we can fight in December, let’s do it,” Chandler told TMZ. “The fact of the matter is I’ve stayed ready since I left training camp for [UFC 303]. I am staying ready to take a fight — any fight — if this fight doesn’t look like it’s happening in December.”
The fight was originally scheduled to headline this year’s International Fight Week card in June. However, McGregor withdrew due to an injury. “The Notorious” hasn’t competed since suffering a gruesome leg injury in his July 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
Chandler was also stopped by Poirier in his most recent outing in November 2022 at UFC 281. Chandler has a great relationship with White and understands the UFC CEO’s role.
Having been on both sides of White’s promoter talk, while Chandler is ready to move on to other things, there’s a part of him that believes White could be pulling a swerve.
“There’s no reason why Conor can’t fight this year,” Chandler said. “Obviously, you know I can fight this year. I think it comes down to scheduling.
December makes a lot of sense. November, you’ve got MSG, it’s already kind of booked up. Before that, you’ve got Abu Dhabi, so December is that big pay-per-view card.
You know, cap off the year with a huge pay-per-view, Chandler vs. McGregor. Makes a lot of sense.
“Dana, as much as we love him, he has also said some things that were just absolutely false in press conferences and whatnot — which, that’s his job. Sometimes it’s his job to give you the exact information; his job is sometimes to give you misinformation.
So sometimes, saying the fight isn’t happening this year might mean that this fight is happening this year — just like he did when I already knew I was fighting June 29.
“I think it was around the Super Bowl … he tells Pat McAfee that Conor and Chandler aren’t fighting until the end of the year probably.
So you can read between the lines, but as far as I know, this fight has some very huge prospects to fight by the end of the year. Conor’s ready, I’m ready, let’s sign on the dotted line.”