Conor McGregor’s UFC rival Michael Chandler reveals tactic he plans to beat Irishman with as pair prepare to fight
MICHAEL CHANDLER has outlined his path to victory in his blockbuster showdown with Conor McGregor.
The three-time Bellator lightweight champion will welcome the UFC’s poster boy back to the octagon later this year after coaching season 31 of the Ultimate Fighter.
Both men are notoriously fast starters, and Chandler doesn’t foresee anything other than a high-octane start to their eagerly-anticipated welterweight showdown.
He told ESPN: “Conor and I both start extremely fast.
“That cage door closes, Bruce Buffer announces us, that bell dings and we both try to meet in the center of the octagon trying to make the other guy take a backwards step first.
“Conor more in a larger, wider, take-up-more-space stance, to kind of project that domineering spirit of himself.
“Me more like a missile coming at you, making you feel my presence right away, I want to get my hands on you.”
Kill Cliff MMA star Chandler, however, knows the danger of recklessly hunting down the slick counter striker that is McGregor.
He said: “If he lands one on the button, it’s going to be a rough night for me.
“If I land one on the button, it’s going to be a rough night for him, but which one of us can do it?
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“I’m going to get in his face, make him take a backwards step right away.
“He’s going to feel my presence from the very beginning of the fight and then from there wherever the fight takes us.
“If I want to pick him up and put him down, I can pick him up and put him down and put a beating on him and get a submission that way.
“I believe I finish Conor in the second round.
“That’s my ‘Mystic Mike’ take on this, later on this year whenever it is.”
Chandler, 36, will have a marked advantage over McGregor when it comes to wrestling and grappling – which many expect him to rely heavily on to have his hand raised.
But the American sees himself taking former two-division champion McGregor out on the feet.
He said: “I always visualize a big overhand right or a left hook.
“That’s the shot that I really want to land every single time, and that’s the shot I’ve seen put guys down so many times in my career, put guys down in training, put guys down a million times in my mind.
“I believe I wear him down a little bit and land a big shot in the second round and take him out.”
Fan favourite Chandler hasn’t fought since his UFC 281 showdown with Dustin Poirier, which he lost via third-round submission.
McGregor, meanwhile, hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his leg in his trilogy fight with Poirier in July 2021.