Michael Bisping thinks Conor McGregor’s return fight should sill be against Michael Chandler.
Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) spent over a year waiting for McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) to return, and the pair were eventually booked to fight at UFC 303 last June. However, McGregor withdrew due to a broken pinky toe and has not been scheduled for a fight since.
With the UFC working on an event at the White House next July, McGregor has re-entered the drug testing pool. If he does indeed end up coming back, Bisping sees Chandler as the perfect opponent for him to get his first win since 2020.
“He doesn’t need to fight, and fair play to the guy,” Bisping said of McGregor on his YouTube channel. “I do respect the fact that he still wants to fight because, as he said, and as I know, there’s no other feeling like it. Will he still be the same Conor McGregor? I very much doubt it. 2016 is nine years ago. That’s crazy. Things move on, simple as that.
“McGregor’s getting a little bit older, but if he wants to come back and he wants to fight on the White House, great. Fair play. Who would he fight? Well, of course, there is the match with Michael Chandler, and it would just be mental if that fight with Michael Chandler actually ended up materializing after Michael Chandler sat on the sidelines for what feels like a goddamn eternity.”
Chandler, 39, has lost five of his past six fights. Although he’s fought top-level competition in the octagon, it’s his most recent performance against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 which has Bisping concerned.
“Him vs. Chandler, yes an interesting fight, 100 percent – certainly a fight that I would favor Conor McGregor to win,” Bisping said. “I think it would be a perfect opponent to come back to and face after so much time away, because the version of Michael Chandler that we saw against Paddy Pimblett was washed. He was done. He was over the hill. He looked terrible.”
