With just weeks to go until their historic showdown, Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler’s preparations look a little bit different.
The Irishman is due to return to the octagon for the first time since the summer of 2021 against Chandler on June 29 at UFC 303. But he has still been seen out partying at his Dublin pub The Black Forge Inn on multiple occasions after finishing training.
Meanwhile, Chandler has been staying quiet outside of his frequent videos from fight camp and remains unfazed by his rival’s mind games. Even on Monday when their pre-fight press conference was cancelled, he maintained his calm amid the awful announcement.
Conor McGregor shares partying videos just weeks out from UFC 303 fight
The Irishman has become known for his affinity towards partying in the last few years, particularly without any fights lined up. And while he insists he has imposed a ban on alcohol now that he is in camp, he is still clearly enjoying the nightlife.
Two weeks ago he shared footage of himself enjoying a night out with pals at a secret gig held by DJ Marc Kinchen and Irish group Belters Only at his Dublin hotspot. He appeared to be enjoying himself with fiancee Dee Devlin and pals before the fight.
And the following weekend he was back again, this time with teammate Lee Hammond among others while he enjoyed the pub’s urban night ‘Influence’. He shared a series of videos before quickly deleting them, but not before they could be widely shared across social media.
This was all considered to be some degree of mind games, until on Monday morning his pre-fight press conference with Michael Chandler scheduled for Dublin’s 3Arena was abruptly canceled. There was minimal reason given, and both men remained quiet.
Over 10,000 fans had picked up free tickets for the event, but with just 12 hours until doors were due to open they were told it was off. This led to a number of conspiracy theories about the bout being cancelled, but those have been quelled by the UFC ramping up promotion and Chandler himself.
Michael Chandler reacts to Conor McGregor’s partying videos ahead of UFC 303
After an uncertain week, fans were overjoyed to hear from Chandler in a recent interview on The Pivot podcast. He discussed a wide range of topics including the press conference cancellation and how he feels about his rival’s partying videos.
“There’s a couple of different schools of thought,” he explained after being asked about the clubbing videos, and if they indicate that he isn’t taking the fight as seriously. “Would you ever put it past Conor McGregor? No.
“If you’ve seen Conor you would not put that past Conor. But, then you see Ryan Garcia do what Ryan Garcia did. There’s all kinds of different throwing people off the trail and publicity stunts, if you will.
“I’m training whether I see Conor in the club every single day. Or if I see him tweet or do an interview and he looks the best he’s ever been, bright eyed and bushy tailed? I’m training the exact same way.
“I train that way whether I’m fighting all those guys you never heard of all the way to the number one guy in the world. From Charles Oliveira at the time to Conor McGregor now, my process does not change and it does not waiver. So I know I can step into the octagon and do what I have to do.”
Dana White likens Conor McGregor to Muhammad Ali as he hails ‘mind games’
Chandler isn’t the only one who is paying little heed to McGregor’s antics in the build-up. Promotional boss Dana White recently appeared on the Flagrant podcast with Andrew Schulz, where he compared the Irishman’s pre-fight ‘mental warfare’ to that of boxing icon Muhammad Ali.
Asked if he believed McGregor was truly partying, White replied that he “doesn’t know”, and theorised that the videos may be from old events. But he also claimed it could be an effort to get Chandler to ease up in his preparations.
“I will tell you this, and I don’t like comparing people to Muhammad Ali because to me he’s the f**ing [best],” White explained. “And f*** what he did in fighting; just as a human, what this guy accomplished – but he didn’t give a f*** what anybody said.
“Ali, Conor – both are level when it comes to mental warfare, the two best of all time when it comes to mental warfare. He’d [Ali] turn up at [Joe Frazier’s] camp outside and f***ing do all of this s***.
“He would predict rounds, he would come up with f**** incredible poems and sayings, things that he would do leading up to the fight. And then you look at Conor McGregor, he’s picked rounds, I mean the mental warfare that this guy had on so many of his fighters.
“And he would make these guys play into his game, get into their heads and f***ing embarrass them and outwit them in every way, shape and form.”
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