Call it determination or call it delusion, Michael Chandler refuses to accept that he’s no longer in play as Conor McGregor’s UFC comeback opponent.
After being positioned as the opponent McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) would face in his first fight since July 2021 for the better part of three years, Chandler’s (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) hopes to share an octagon with “The Notorious” took a massive hit this week when UFC CEO Dana White said he’s no longer interested in booking that fight.
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Chandler admits he was disappointed to hear those comments after displaying extreme patience and understanding throughout the process. However, after digesting what was said, he still isn’t ready to give up entirely that the fight will happen at the UFC White House event slated for June 14.
“My reaction is: We will see. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out,” Chandler said Wednesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Obviously nobody has any idea what the fights are going to be on the White House card. It is going to be the biggest card ever assembled, whether it be the biggest fights or obviously the biggest venue. We’ll see. Is that 100 percent how it’s going to be, me and Conor not fighting at the White House? I don’t know. All I know is I can control what I can control, and that’s me doing exactly what I’ve been doing since Day 1 in this sport.
“Obviously it’s not encouraging. It’s not great to hear. But I’ve also heard many things that were not encouraging that turned out to be not true or just flat-out false. So we just keep on going. Until the fights get announced, until Conor McGregor gets announced, his next opponent, and until I do or do not get announced as his next opponent, or do or do not get announced as being on the White House card, until then, all we can just do is hope and pray.”
Chandler isn’t sure what he can say or do to switch the narrative back in his favor. He will attend UFC 324 on Saturday in Las Vegas and said he would be open to a face-to-face conversation with White to better understand why he was taken off the board.
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A former three-time Bellator champion and one-time UFC title challenger, Chandler thinks he is still the most viable fight for McGregor and would create the most interest for fans. He hopes White will soon see that again, too.
“It’s a fight that just makes so much sense,” Chandler said. “It’s an explosive fight. It’s an exciting fight. I think I’m his top choice, he’s my top choice, that’s the fight that we want. I don’t have a Plan B. I don’t have a Plan B until Plan A is 100 percent exhausted. That’s kind of where we’re at. That’s the plan, fighting at the White House, fighting Conor at the White House until that train gets completely derailed. The only way it’s going to get derailed is him getting announced against somebody else at the White House, or me getting announced against somebody at the White House. So, we’ll see.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Michael Chandler reacts to Dana White nixing Conor McGregor fight
