It seems that Michael Chandler finally got sick of waiting.
For the past year-and-a-half, Chandler has been penciled in as the return opponent for Conor McGregor. The former two-division UFC champion had his comeback announced toward the start of 2023, with the Irishman scheduled to coach opposite “Iron” on The Ultimate Fighter before sharing the cage with him.
But after 2023 passed by without that matchup reaching the Octagon, talk of a UFC 300 headliner dissipated, and an official fight date in the form of UFC 303 fell through, another calendar year looks set to come and go with the absence of “The Notorious” star.
With that, McGregor’s fans will seemingly be waiting until 2025 for his next fight. One man who won’t be waiting that long, however, is Chandler.
Plenty have been urging the former Bellator champ to move on and take another fight. Despite frequently dismissing those calls, it seems that Chandler has now listened. After speaking with UFC CEO Dana White, Barstool Sports’ Robbie Fox reported in a social media video that Chandler will indeed take a fight amid the uncertainty surrounding McGregor’s return.
That bout? A five-round rematch with former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden on November 16.
Chandler vs. Oliveira 2 Set Three Years On From Title Fight
The major news means Chandler (23-8) and Oliveira (34-10, 1 NC) will run back their May 2021 showdown, which came just two months before the most recent Octagon appearance for McGregor.
That bout marked the second UFC outing for Chandler, who debuted earlier in the year with an emphatic first-round knockout of Dan Hooker in Abu Dhabi. While the decision to grant him a shot caused debate, “Iron” came within inches of a title crowning in the opening round of the UFC 262 main event.
But after “Do Bronx” survived, he quickly landed a fight-changing left hook to drop Chandler seconds into round two, setting up a memorable TKO finish and securing championship glory for the Brazilian.
Oliveira has since fallen from the throne and failed to regain his place on it opposite Islam Makhachev. Most recently, the ex-champ was unsuccessful in his bid for number one contender status in narrow fashion against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 this past April.
Chandler, meanwhile, has had his hand raised just once, brutally knoking out Tony Ferguson in 2022. Aside from that, the 38-year-old has suffered defeats to Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier, with his submission setback to the latter in November 2022 marking his last walk to the cage.
With this addition, the current fights expected to take place at UFC 309 are as follows:
- Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler (lightweight co-main event)
- Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov (light heavyweight)
- Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders (middleweight)
- Viviane Araújo vs. Karine Silva (women’s flyweight)
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee (bantamweight)
- Karine Silva vs. Viviane Araújo (women’s flyweight)
- Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura (women’s flyweight)
