Michael Chandler appears motivated for the biggest fight of his MMA career after Conor McGregor announced he would face the 36-year-old in June 2024. Chandler and McGregor have been linked for a fight since their TUF Season 31 stint as rival coaches, with expectations that they would face each other after the season concluded. However, McGregor’s situation with USADA delayed his return, with the former UFC double champ enrolling in the USADA testing pool only in late 2023, finally removing a major hurdle from his path.
The UFC has not officially announced the date or opponent for McGregor’s octagon return, but there was speculation that the Dubliner may fight at the milestone UFC 300 event. Chandler, however, accepted McGregor’s surprise call for an International Fight Week showdown. Despite the proposed date being six months away and no official announcement yet, Chandler recently posted on social media: “In camp… Woke up feeling dangerous.”
Industry experts believe the McGregor vs. Chandler matchup is quite interesting stylistically. The oddsmakers have McGregor as a slight -120 favorite, with Chandler as a +100 underdog. If the fight takes place on the proposed date, it will be the Irishman’s first octagon appearance in three years; his last competition was against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, during which McGregor suffered a gruesome leg break toward the end of the first round and was sidelined for a full recovery.
Upon announcing his comeback fight, Conor McGregor claimed that the Michael Chandler bout would take place at middleweight. Chandler, who wants to fight the best version of McGregor, agreed to compete at 185 pounds. The former UFC double champ has competed in three weight classes under the UFC umbrella, and if the fight against ‘Iron’ goes down at middleweight, McGregor will become only the third fighter in UFC history to compete in four different divisions.
MMA journalist Mike Bohn highlighted this fact in a post on his social media account, saying, “If this happens at middleweight, @TheNotoriousMMA would join Diego Sanchez & Kenny Florian as the only fighters in UFC history to fight in four weight classes (only Florian won in four). Sanchez & Florian both started at 185 and went down. McGregor started at 145 and has escalated.”
