"We want to break that Khabib number" - Michael Chandler shares his ambitions for Conor McGregor fight at UFC 303
Michael Chandler has some lofty goals for the magnitude of business he wants his Conor McGregor fight to do.
This fight has been discussed for a while now and Chandler is chomping at the bit for it.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Chandler got into how he would even be keen on flying to Ireland to fight McGregor on enemy territory. The number seven-ranked lightweight contender stressed he didn't want to play the villain but that just wanted to take the proverbial bull by the horns.
While talking to Helwani, 'Iron' Michael got into many details surrounding his looming UFC 303 main event pay-per-view bout versus 'The Notorious', set for the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during International Fight Week. He said:
"This is a big fight, man, you know what I mean. I would argue, and this is no disrespect, we want to break that Khabib [Nurmagomedov] number, right, the 2.4 [million]. That was huge because of the animosity, the biggest Muslim athlete on the planet, I mean it had all the makings of it doing that kind of number."
"But this one, Conor's comeback, one of the most violent guys in the sport, I mean we've got seventy three days to build this thing. I know the UFC wants to build it."
Check out Michael Chandler discussing his PPV buys goal for UFC 303 below:
Michael Chandler and his history with UFC pay-per-views
Michael Chandler has only competed on pay-per-view main cards since making his debut with the UFC. That first foray into the octagon came at UFC 257 in that evening's co-main event. Chandler scored a first-round TKO against Dan Hooker at the 2:30 mark of their January 2021 clash to debut in a big way.
The Missouri native then vaulted to main event status at UFC 262 to battle with Charles Oliveira in a bid for the then-vacant UFC lightweight title. Despite early successes in the opening frame, Chandler was finished with strikes early in the second stanza by 'Dro Bronx' who became the newly minted king of 155 pounds.
Chandler then collided with former interim UFC lightweight and former BMF champion Justin Gaethje in a classic throwdown. Chandler would again fall short but this time via unanimous decision at UFC 268 in November 2021.
The former multi-time Bellator lightweight champion rebounded with a KO of the year contender when he halted Tony Ferguson with a front kick to the face at UFC 274 in May 2022.
Chandler's last contest at this juncture came against Dustin Poirier at UFC 281. Poirier emerged victorious by way of a rear naked choke in the third round of their November 2022 bout.