It’s been eight months since Conor McGregor pulled out of his return bout against Michael Chandler; and ‘Iron’ certainly isn’t waiting around for that ‘Notorious’ payday.
After taking on Charles Oliveira last November, the popular American has now signed onto fight Scouse superstar Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett in April.
As he prepares for another fabulous PPV showcase, Michael Chandler has now offered his thoughts on whether the UFC will ever re-book him against the former double champion.
Michael Chandler talks Conor McGregor’s potential UFC return
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Michael Chandler revealed that the prevailing sentiment of the UFC is that Conor McGregor will one day make his octagon as “we’ve got to finish The Ultimate Fighter [season] 31.
“That is the UFC sentiment, and I think it’s even his sentiment. He said that he’s a man of his word well, if you’re a man of your word then there’s only one guy that you’re going to fight when you comeback to the UFC – the guy who had a contract with your name on.”
That’s a rather vague answer; luckily, Helwani pressed on whether Chandler truly believes that Conor McGregor will fight one more time under the bright lights of the UFC octagon.
“Heart of hearts is tough man; because I think heart of hearts says Conor is coming back at some point – but if I was a betting man using my brain, I wouldn’t put money on it.”
Chandler argued that at some point, all of these ‘side quests and side jobs’ that McGregor has been doing over the past few years will eventually fade away in favor of his ‘first love’, i.e., MMA.
“Conor’s got to come back to his first love. The one thing that has given him every single shiny object he’s currently chasing, all these side-quests and side-jobs, every single thing that he has can be tied back to the UFC and the opportunity they gave him.
“Does he want his legacy to be ‘My last fight I broke my leg, touted the greatest comeback in combat sports history, fooled everybody for a couple of years… Never to return again?’ I don’t think he wants his legacy to be that.”
McGregor himself recently teased a BKFC fight, with the four-year anniversary of his second loss to Dustin Poirier now coming up over the horizon – Chandler returns to action on April 12.
Michael Chandler faces Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 in April
Last week, it was confirmed that Michael Chandler will make his UFC return against British standout Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett in the co-main event of UFC 314.
That PPV is scheduled for April 12 in Miami and will be headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes for the now-vacant UFC featherweight championship.
Chandler’s plans to secure Notorious’ return fight are dependent on him winning at UFC 314 – unfortunately, his incoming opponent also has one eye on that potential ‘red panty night’ too.
“Sounds very tasty,” Pimblett told Round Eight Boxing on the idea of stealing the McGregor matchup from Chandler.
“A lot of people have said this to me already, ‘Beat Chandler, take the McGregor fight.’ Obviously, it’s the biggest fight in the sport, the biggest fight we’ve ever seen.”
UFC 314: Volkanovski vs Lopes goes down live from Miami on April 12.