The UFC’s White House event has reignited Michael Chandler’s hope of fighting Conor McGregor.
Chandler has been criticized for spending over a year waiting for McGregor to return, only to eventually move on and fight Charles Oliveira this past November at UFC 309. After coaching Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite side McGregor, the pair were scheduled to fight at UFC 303 last June. However, McGregor ended up pulling out due to a broken pinky toe, and no discussions of a rebooking was ever brought up.
But, with the UFC announcing a White House event next summer, McGregor threw his name in the hat, and Dana White sees him as a far more reliable option for the card than Jon Jones. Proud American Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) thinks he’s a shoe-in for the White House event and says there’s no better time to make the McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) fight happen.
“First and foremost, I want the White House,” Chandler told MMA Fighting. “Ideally, if it becomes Conor, that would be awesome. We have some unfinished business. I’ve got respect for him, he’s got respect for me, but we do have an unfinished business. He has expressed interest. When he put out that meme of me and him – I guess you could call it a meme; it was A.I., it was me and him.
“He’s called me out on Twitter and said we have unfinished business, and we do. We have unfinished business. We would be the only fighters not to fight after ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ who were in the same weight class. Conor and I, it makes sense. I did my job. I signed on the dotted line. I still never pulled out of a fight, never missed weight.”
With McGregor’s failed bid to get on the ballot in Ireland’s presidential race, Chandler thinks a return to fighting is imminent.
“I think we’re definitely a lot closer today than we ever have been,” Chandler said of McGregor returning. “I’ve heard the comments from (David) Feldman, his business partner, who he spends a lot of time with. I do have inside sources of people close to him who have said the same exact sentiment, and obviously, withdrawing from the race of president of Ireland, gets his focus a little bit more back on training.”
While Chandler said in May that he wasn’t losing sleep over the idea of facing McGregor, his confidence in the fight happening is now higher than ever.
“I’ve always said if you’re a betting man, don’t put money on him necessarily coming back, but now this changes things a lot,” Chandler said. “In my heart of hearts, I think I’m fighting Conor McGregor at the White House and that sure does make a ton of sense for a multitude of reasons.”
