The fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler is one more step closer to being made official.
On New Year's Eve, McGregor announced he would fight Chandler on June 29, at 185 pounds. Chandler has now confirmed those are the details he's been approached about as well. The UFC has yet to announce or confirm the news.
Chandler has been waiting on McGregor since they coached The Ultimate Fighter Season 31 and seems confident that the fight has finally been set.
“I can confirm, that’s exactly what I’ve heard,” Chandler said on his YouTube channel. “Obviously, him announcing it makes it a little bit more true. You’ve got to remember, the UFC has not announced this yet. Also, if I take you back to February of 2023, while he, the UFC, myself, we were all in talks about The Ultimate Fighter, Conor came out and put a long tweet out about The Ultimate Fighter and how he was going to do The Ultimate Fighter. So Conor, in typical Conor fashion — Conor being Conor — wanted to break the news himself about The Ultimate Fighter, then it was confirmed and the UFC put it out there."
The one detail Chandler isn't confirming is the weight class.
“Conor wants to continue the narrative that he’s bigger than he actually is. You guys think he’s bigger because of lights, camera angles, and a great photographer," Chandler said. "... since I originally called for the fight at 170. So naturally he says 185."
Chandler, who was the Bellator Lightweight Champion before coming to the UFC, is confident he can beat the former UFC double champion, so much so that he's made a bold prediction about how he gets it done.
"I finish Conor within the first two rounds and after that, probably end his career,” Chandler said. “There’s just so much more than what people think about on the surface level. I want battlegrounds of epic proportions, I want to stand in the cage with that man, I want to break that man’s will, I want to break his jaw, I want to separate him from consciousness, completely flatline him inside the octagon, and then we say farewell to the sport’s biggest star. Then we can go about our merry way.”
McGregor predicts he'll achieve his 20th career knockout when he steps in the Octagon with Chandler.
McGregor hasn't fought since he broke his ankle during his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Since then he's been filming movies, attending fights, and was even wrapped up in a USADA scandal.
Chandler is coming off a submission loss, also to Dustin Poirier, in November 2022.