"There's rumors of him never coming back" - Michael Chandler on why it'd be foolish to 'hitch his wagon' to the Conor McGregor fight
Michael Chandler is not solely focused on fighting Conor McGregor. While Chandler would be willing to wait for a guaranteed matchup against McGregor, he now sees a lot of uncertainty regarding the Irishman's return to the octagon.
Chandler noted that there are several rumors regarding McGregor's return, which range from the Irishman's boxing rematch with Floyd Mayweather to him never competing again. 'Iron' believes it would be foolish of him to pin his hopes on a fight against 'The Notorious' under such uncertainty. Chandler recently told MMA Fighting's Damon Martin:
"If there was a guaranteed, 'Hey, this fight is definitely happening', I woud have no problem waiting a couple of extra months, into January, February, even March of next year. But this is the sport of mixed martial arts. A lot changes every single day and you're also talking about the biggest combat sports icon on the planet. There's rumors out there of him fighting Floyd Mayweather, there's rumors of him never coming back, there's rumors of him coming back by the end of the year. We don't know when Conor's coming back. So with that amount of uncertainity it would be really, I think, foolish to hitch your wagon to that fight itself."
Watch Chandler's interview with MMAFighting below:
Michael Chandler called out Conor McGregor after a scoring a brutal knockout win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274. While 'Iron' is eyeing a big payday with a booking against the Irishman, he insists that winning the lightweight championship tops his priority list.
Dana White is in favor of Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler
Conor McGregor has been sitting on the sidelines for a year, rehabbing a broken fibula. The Irishman is yet to provide any potential timeline for his return to the octagon, although he continues to receive callouts from high caliber opponents.
McGregor's potential list of opponents for a return fight includes Charles Oliveira, Michael Chandler, Jorge Masvidal and even Kamaru Usman. After Chandler's highlight-reel KO win over Ferguson, UFC president Dana White really liked the idea of McGregor fighting 'Iron'. White recently told TMZ:
“I don’t know, I really like Chandler vs. Conor after Chandler’s last fight. There’s plenty of fights to make, I don’t know if that’s the one, but we’ll see what the landscape looks like when Conor comes back. I’m just saying after his last interview, his last fight, Conor’s ranked No. 8, he’s ranked No. 5, it makes a lot of sense right now."
Watch White's interview with TMZ below: