"Conor's coming back" - Michael Chandler lists future opponents he would like to face in the UFC
Michael Chandler faces Tony Ferguson on the UFC 274 main card in a fight that's guaranteed to be an epic war. If things go Chandler's way, he's hoping the fight earns him a title shot, although he'll also accept Conor McGregor as a consolation prize.
In a new interview with Yahoo! Sports, Chandler said:
"I'll dispatch with Tony Ferguson couple fights before the main event and hopefully be sitting there cageside watching what could be my next opponent. There's not an MMA fan, combat sports fan alive that doesn't want to see me rematch Charles Oliveira or especially Justin Gaethje in a five round title fight. So I put myself in a position to possibly get that. If not I think Conor's coming back, he needs an opponent. So there's some big fights for me. Maybe jumping up to 170, fighting Diaz, fighting Poirier, seeing what happens. There's a lot of different fights on the horizon."
Chandler is looking to get back to his winning ways after going 0-2 against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Both fights were phenomenal and saw "Iron Mike" almost knock out Oliveira and go toe to toe with Gaethje for 15 minutes.
With the UFC lightweight division being so competitive it's hard to see him get another title shot off a single win, but as Tony Ferguson says he does have "Dana White privilege."
Watch the full Yahoo! Sports interview with Michael Chandler below:
Ferguson is also looking to break out of a career slump, having lost his last three to Gaethje, Oliveira, and Beneil Dariush. Before that terrible 2020-2021 period he was on a phenomenal twelve fight win streak extending back to 2013.
Joe Rogan believes Michael Chandler may be too tough of a comeback opponent for Conor McGregor
Michael Chandler is trying to position himself as the perfect fighter to welcome Conor McGregor back into the octagon. While he'd certainly be easier than Kamaru Usman, he's still an elite heavyweight according to Joe Rogan.
In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience (via MMA Fighting), Rogan said:
“I think, honestly, when boxers come back from a long layoff and they come back from a loss, one thing that boxers do that’s smart is they have a tune-up fight. I think there’s a reason why they’ve been using tune-up fights forever, like astute managers. They know you’ve got to knock the dust off and you’ll be better in the next performance, [rather than] to jump right into a Dustin Poirier or right into, name it, Michael Chandler ... like right into a guy who’s the elite of the elite.”
With McGregor obsessed with the idea of winning a third UFC title at welterweight, it's going to be hard to convince him to accept any opponent who doesn't get him to a title shot with a win.