Dana White says a fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler is no longer in play.
With almost universal expectation that, if McGregor did finally return to competition for the first time since July 2021 at the UFC White House event, his opponent would be Chandler, the UFC boss has now nixed that idea.
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“No, that was a couple years ago,” White told Complex when asked if Chandler was still the planned opponent for McGregor. “No.”
Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC), a former three-time Bellator champion, coached Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series opposite McGregor in 2023. They were announced to finally fight at UFC 303 in July 2024, but McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) withdrew on less than three weeks’ notice due to a broken toe.
The matchup has not been rebooked since, but Chandler has remained hopeful and emphatically stated that he anticipates the call if McGregor commits to a comeback. He most recently went on a CBS broadcast during New Year’s Eve and stated that the situation was headed in a positive direction.
White now has seemingly squashed all that, but could it be because he’s uncertain McGregor will follow through on his word? In a Jan. 13 post on X, McGregor wrote it would be his “great honor to make the UFC great again.”
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But White admitted there are still uncertainties at hand with “The Notorious,” and he could not give a clear answer on the Irishman’s future.
“We’ll see if Conor’s going to come back or not,” White said. “We’ve been talking about it for a while. We’ll see. We’ll see how it plays out. I don’t know, though.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White: Conor McGregor’s next fight WON’T be vs. Michael Chandler
