Michael Chandler: ‘In my heart of hearts’ Conor McGregor returns but realistically ‘it’s a slim chance’ he fights again
Michael Chandler has moved on from the two-year long saga that was supposed to result in a fight against Conor McGregor and he has his doubts if the Irish superstar ever competes again.
It almost seems like a lifetime ago that Chandler signed onto coach The Ultimate Fighter season 31 opposite McGregor and now nine months has passed since the lightweights were supposed to headline UFC 303 during International Fight Week in 2024. Chandler eventually returned to action with a five-round battle against Charles Oliveira this past November and he’s now scheduled to clash with Paddy Pimblett in the UFC 314 co-main event in April.
Meanwhile, McGregor still hasn’t fought nor scheduled his next bout, which has led to plenty of speculation that the former two-division champion already made his final appearance in the UFC.
“In my heart of hearts, yes [he comes back],” Chandler said about McGregor when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Because I think he wants to fight. He doesn’t want to finish his fighting legacy the way he has done it. His last fight was breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier and then touting the greatest comeback in combat sports history and then doing The Ultimate Fighter and then signing to fight me and then pulling out with another injury. That’s my heart of hearts.
“Now my mind, if you’re a betting man does Conor come back? No. I’d give it a slim chance.”
When McGregor last saw action in the UFC, he suffered a gruesome broken leg during a trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier back in 2021. The road to recovery was supposed to lead to the fight against Chandler but lately, McGregor has been more focused on building BKFC after becoming a part-owner in the bare-knuckle promotion and continuing to promote his beer brand.
With his 37th birthday approaching in July, McGregor is also battling father time but sitting on a financial fortune affords him the ability to never fight again if that’s what he chooses.
“I think he’s just so intertwined in the shiny objects all around him that he can’t help himself but to go reach at a shiny object,” Chandler said. “With all due respect, you may be the same way, I may be the same way if we had those opportunities. That’s why I’ve never been overly critical of the man because unless you’ve walked a mile in his shoes, do you have the right to criticize him?
“That’s how I am with most of the guys I fight or everybody in the industry. I’m not living the same exact life as these guys. In my heart of hearts, I think he does come back eventually but if I was a betting man, it’s a slim chance. I ain’t betting money on that horse.”
Of course with McGregor’s comeback appearing less and less likely as weeks turn into months between updates on his next fight, Chandler still hears that he wasted his time waiting for a fight that never happened.
Looking back now, the former Bellator lightweight champion refuses to suddenly say waiting was a mistake, especially knowing the UFC’s commitment to making that fight happen. Once it was clear McGregor wasn’t coming back in a timely fashion, Chandler moved on.
“There’s still no regret for how the whole Conor thing played out,” Chandler said. “I had all the reassurances behind the scenes that yeah, the fight might get pushed back a little bit further but I’d still signed a contract, did The Ultimate Fighter — we still need to finish The Ultimate Fighter 31. If Conor comes back, he signed his name on the dotted line that he will finish The Ultimate Fighter 31.
“Will I wait for it? No, I’m moving on and I am fighting and I’m getting after it, I’m going to stay active. You’ve got to remind people sometimes, I signed with the UFC, and within a matter of 28 months, I fought five times. Fought for the world title, fought Fight of the Night, Fight of the Year, another candidate for Fight of the Year, I was very active. I was the type of guy who fought in the Bellator tournament, fought six fights in 13 months. I’ve been extremely active my entire career.”
When he did return, Chandler suffered a heartbreaking loss to Oliveira in a potential No. 1 contender’s bout but he didn’t let that consume him for very long.
Instead, Chander picked up the pieces, got healthy again, and then waited for the UFC to come calling. That resulted in Chandler being booked in the five-round fight against Pimblett in April.
“Obviously I take a lot of flack for it, people make fun of me for waiting for Conor and doing that stuff,” Chandler said. “I signed a contract saying I’m going to do The Ultimate Fighter and I’m going to fight Conor McGregor so I wanted to wait it out, figure it out and we got the fight booked and obviously he pulled out. I think that fight happens somewhere down the line if he ever does come back but I wanted to get right back on the horse.
“As soon as I was healthy, as soon as I was able to train again, I said yes to this fight. Now we’re going to get back in the win column and April puts me in a good spot with eight more months left in the year whether it be sometime this summer, whether it be sometime this summer and the fall, fight three times this year. It’s the ‘what have you done lately for me business’ and it’s time to get back in the win column and do something spectacular April 12 in Miami.”
Make no mistake, Chandler would immediately volunteer to revisit that fight against McGregor if he got word that the “Notorious” was ready to compete again but don’t expect him to hold his breath on that one.
“I’ve bet money on the wrong horse for a little while, now I’m betting on myself, continuing to bet on myself,” Chandler said. “Took the opportunity against Charles Oliveira, fell short. Now I’m betting on myself again to go out there and fight Paddy Pimblett in April and stay active this year.
“If [Conor] ever does come back, his road back to the UFC goes straight through Nashville, Tenn. and Michael Chandler.”