Aside from the financial payout that would come from defeating Conor McGregor, would the MMA fanbase consider a Chandler victory as ‘impressive’?
Conor McGregor is coming off back-to-back defeats to Dustin Poirier and isn’t ranked in either the lightweight or welterweight divisions, yet there’s far more than just money on the line for ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler.
McGregor vs Chandler appears ‘close’ to an official announcement
Seven months after the conclusion of The Ultimate Fighter season 31, many within the MMA community are expecting an official announcement for McGregor vs Chandler to be made in the coming weeks.
This, after Chandler himself revealed to TMZSports that the details of the bout have finally been confirmed to him behind closed doors at the UFC: “I’ve got the official announcement; it’s happening this summer. I can’t tell you the actual date but it’s happening this summer yes…The official status is yes; we are fighting this summer.”
As per DraftKings Sportsbook, Chandler is a slight underdog against McGregor and whilst ‘Iron’ may get the opportunity to earn a statement victory over the sports’ biggest superstar, UFC legend Matt Brown questions what the true value of that win would be – aside from the obvious financial payout that comes from ‘red panty night’.
Matt Brown questions the value of beating Conor McGregor in 2024
Speaking on MMAFighting’s The Fighter vs The Writer podcast, UFC veteran Matt Brown noted that Chandler’s star power wouldn’t necessarily see an explosion, even with a viral KO win:
“Michael Chandler’s been waiting for the red panty night for [two] years. If Conor came back, fought him and Chandler won, how much of a star would that make him? Chandler’s already a pretty good star…but would anybody even really care?”
‘The Immortal’ noted that “it was special” when Nate Diaz beat McGregor on two weeks’ notice, but that “I don’t even think we’d be impressed” if Chandler was to earn the same statement victory.”
“I think even if he fights Conor, even if he beats Conor, I just wonder if it’s going to be the lottery ticket that it would have been a few years ago,” said Brown.
“It’s just lost so much interest…I just don’t feel like anybody would be that impressed.”
McGregor should ‘pick and choose’ his future opponents carefully
Last week during the promotional tour for the Road House remake, McGregor named three potential opponents for his UFC return – one of which was, of course, Michael Chandler.
Should McGregor get past the fan-favorite American, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear Dana White teasing a fast-tracked title shot for ‘Notorious’ at either 155 or 170lbs.
Yet Brown believes that should McGregor win his comeback fight and be catapulted back into title contention; the Irishman would struggle to compete against the next generation of top contenders:
“I would pick [Benoit Saint-Denis], I would pick Drew Dober to beat him. [Renato] Moicano I think would beat him easy — maybe not easy, but I think it would be a good matchup for Moicano.”
Brown notes that McGregor is “in a killer division” and the prospective fights at welterweight aren’t much easier: “You’ve got a f****** murderer’s row up there. Even at 170, like Neil Magny would beat him.”