Michael Chandler gives stone-cold response to Conor McGregor claiming UFC has moved past the matchup
Michael Chandler is still confident that his fight against Conor McGregor will happen. The former Bellator lightweight champion recently reacted to the Irishman's latest dismissal of their matchup and implied McGregor wasn't telling fans the whole story.
Chandler and McGregor are currently playing the role of coaches in the ongoing season of The Ultimate Fighter and are expected to fight after the show concludes. Since the Irishman hasn't competed since fracturing his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, many were hyped to hear that Chandler could potentially welcome the former two-division champion back to the octagon.
Unfortunately, Conor McGregor seems to have other plans. Over the past few weeks, 'The Notorious' repeatedly dismissed a bout against 'Iron' and recently tweeted that the UFC wasn't interested in making that fight either.
Michael Chandler has finally responded to the now-deleted tweet that sent fans into a frenzy. Claiming that McGregor wasn't telling the whole truth, he wrote:
"This dude… I remember when his words held an immense amount of weight. Just tell the truth."
This dude… I remember when his words held an immense amount of weight. Just tell the truth. twitter.com/mmajunkie/stat…
In a follow-up tweet, Chandler predicted a second-round knockout victory over McGregor. He wrote:
"Second round KO. Break his will in the first. Finish in the second."
Second round KO. Break his will in the first. Finish in the second.
Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor: 'Iron' believes his fight against 'The Notorious' will materialize
Michael Chandler isn't taking Conor McGregor's words too seriously. He recently addressed rumors about their matchup getting scrapped and reacted to the Irishman calling out other fighters instead.
As mentioned above, the two explosive strikers were expected to clash after their show aired. However, McGregor's reluctance to enter the USADA testing pool has proven a significant hurdle to finalizing their bout.
Moreover, 'The Notorious' has been on a calling-out spree lately, challenging Justin Gaethje, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, and Charles Oliveira over the past two weeks.
Conor McGregor calls out Justin Gaethje immediately after the fight
Honestly feel bad for Michael Chandler pic.twitter.com/l5hEWF774o
In an interview with ESPN MMA, Michael Chandler claimed that he's confident he will face Conor McGregor in the octagon and said:
“Everyone has a short-term memory and we all succumb to recency bias… Next week, there’s going to be another guy that has a great showing at any weight class and they’re going to want to see Conor fight him."
He continued:
"Conor’s going to get his little Twitter fingers going on the weekends every single time there’s a fight and insert himself into the conversation, but I’m not really that worried about it. I believe the fight is happening.”
Watch the full interview below: