Michael Chandler’s stance on a potential fight with Conor McGregor has shifted. While he hasn’t completely abandoned hope, his confidence in McGregor’s return to the octagon has diminished.
After years of anticipation and a canceled bout at UFC 303 due to McGregor’s injury, Chandler’s patience has worn thin. Now, he’s focused on his upcoming fight against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314, marking a shift in priorities.
Despite his doubts, Chandler still believes that if McGregor does return, their fight should be the first on his list.
“Conor is always a part of it, man,” Chandler said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “His road back to the UFC goes through me. It goes straight through Nashville, Tennessee, and Michael Chandler. We’ve got to finish ‘The Ultimate Fighter 31.’ That is the UFC’s sentiment. I think it’s even his sentiment. He said, ‘I’m a man of my word.’
“Well, if you’re a man of your word, then there’s only one guy that you’re going to fight when you come back to the UFC — the guy who had a contract with your name on it. The guy who signed on the dotted line and still to this day never missed weight and never pulled out of a fight.”
While Chandler still hopes McGregor returns, he admits that, realistically, he wouldn’t put money on it happening.
“Heart of hearts is tough, man, because I think heart of hearts says Conor is coming back at some point. But if I’m a betting man, if I’m using my brain, I wouldn’t put money on it,” Chandler said. “But that’s where I’m at today, right now. I’m focused on a blonde dude from Liverpool.”
Chandler believes McGregor owes much of his success to the UFC and that walking away now would leave a gap in his legacy.
“Conor’s got to come back to his first love, the one thing that has given him every single shiny object he’s currently chasing,” Chandler continued. “Every single thing that he has can be tied back some way or the other to the UFC and the opportunity they gave him.”
Chandler also questioned whether McGregor would be satisfied with how his career ended if he never returned.
“Does he want his legacy to be, ‘My last fight I broke my leg, I touted the greatest comeback in combat sports history, I fooled everybody for a couple of years, and then signed on the dotted line to fight Michael Chandler, then pulled out of the fight never to return again?’ I don’t think he wants his legacy to be that.
“Then again, I haven’t walked a mile in that man’s shoes, so I’m not going to say what he is thinking. But my heart of hearts says he’s coming back at some point. But if I was a betting man, I ain’t putting money on it.”
