Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler has long been the one that got away, but is there still a slight chance the two fight someday?
This past Saturday’s UFC 329 main event saw McGregor back inside the octagon for the first time since July 2021, when he broke his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier. In a cruel twist, McGregor’s comeback fight against rival Max Holloway lasted just 69 seconds as he suffered a leg injury at the very start of the contest and was eventually forced to bow out. McGregor is determined to recover and fulfill the last fight on his UFC contract, but when, where, and against who remains to be seen.
Fellow former UFC champion Israel Adesanya believes it’s time for McGregor to give Chandler the fight he’s been chasing for years.
“I did see [McGregor] when he was sitting down and he looked distraught,” Adesanya said on the Precision podcast with Demetrious Johnson. “He looked like, a lot of weight on him. He kind of picked at his glove for a second, so I thought, ‘Is he going to retire?’ I don’t think so, but a fight with Max again after a five-year layoff, you’re fighting at the top of the heap. You’re fighting one of the best to do it. That’s a hard fight to come back against.
“I say, if he does decide to come back later on, Chandler would be the only fight that makes sense.”
Chandler, a three-time Bellator lightweight champion, joined the UFC in 2021 and fought Oliveira for a vacant 155-pound belt in just his second appearance for the promotion. Following losses to Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, Chandler set his sights on McGregor and repeatedly called for the matchup in interviews and social media posts. The two were eventually cast as opposing coaches on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, with the assumption that Chandler would serve as McGregor’s comeback fight opponent.
Their fight was booked to headline UFC 303 in June 2024, but disaster struck when a toe injury forced McGregor to withdraw from the contest. When Chandler finally returned to action, he had gone two years without a fight waiting for McGregor.
Adesanya thinks it’s only right that Chandler is chosen to for McGregor’s final UFC fight.
“He kind of owes Chandler that fight,” Adesaya said. “He honeyd*cked him for for, like, two, three years while Chandler was waiting for the big money fight. So now, after The Ultimate Fighter, after all those times, it would be good for them to kind of settle the score because they even have a little bit of—Not beef, but they’ve got some heat there. That would be the fight I think he should come back to.”
Given McGregor’s massive star power, it’s conceivable he could have his pick of opponents when he’s able to compete again. However, with his injury recovery timetable uncertain and his competitive capabilities in question, his next matchup could be determined by timing as much as the preference of his management and the UFC’s matchmakers.
If McGregor wants a chance to go out on a win, though, Adesanya thinks Chandler makes a lot of sense.
“I think Chandler would be the only fight to make right now,” Adesanya said. “It’s a favorable matchup and also it’s a winnable matchup for Chandler as well fighting a guy like Conor coming off a long layoff and not really getting fulfilled in this fight.”
“Knowing a guy like Conor, from what we’ve seen, he wouldn’t want to go out like that [at UFC 329],” Adesanya added. “I don’t think he’d want to go out like that. I think he’d want to have even just one more before he calls it a career, because to retire off that is just so anticlimactic for a guy who’s done so much in the game and for the game and then that be your last show. Nah. One more fight, Chandler, but Chandler should still fight in the meantime but if he has other options before McGregor comes back then go for it, but yeah, Chandler is owed that fight, so that should be Conor’s next fight and, if possible, his last fight. Then he can do anything he wants.”
TOP STORIES
Report. The MMA Fighting crew breaks down a doozy of a UFC 329 card and a major main event letdown.
Plans. Conor McGregor is already laying out his fighting future.
Personal. Dustin Poirier wasn’t sad to see “dirtbag” McGregor injured at UFC 329.
Ouch. Cory Sandhagen’s leg is looking BAD after Mario Bautista kneebar.
Pain. Sean O’Malley crashed out in real time watching McGregor’s disappointing comeback.
Graps. Paddy Pimblett choked out Benoit Saint Denis with a submission he’d never even attempted before.
MGK. Rapper Machine Gun Kelly relished seeing McGregor fall.
TUF. Michael Bisping suffered to help a fighter make weight in this week’s The Ultimate Fighter 34 recap.
VIDEO STEW
UFC 329 reactions.
He’s back.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
He smokes rocks.
Michael Chandler weighs in on McGregor drama.
He knew.
Don’t miss it!
Explanation.
Ridiculousness.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Magomed Ankalaev (20-2-1, 1 NC) vs. Bogdan Guskov (18-3-1); UFC Abu Dhabi, July 25
FEED ME MORE
Conspiracy.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It would be so incredibly stupid and so incredibly MMA if after all this, Michael Chandler somehow managed to get the Conor McGregor fight. WALK ON.
EXIT POLL
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