Former UFC referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy believes the promotion will do whatever it takes to make Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler happen before the end of 2023.
Ever since they were announced as the opposing coaches on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter, Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler have been on a collision course heading toward the end of the year. However, much of the anticipation hit a roadblock when the Irishman failed to re-enter the USADA testing pool for a required six months of screening.
Despite that McGregor has remained insistent that he will return in December for a fight with Michael Chandler. That immediately led fans and members of the media to speculate on how the UFC plans to essentially skirt the rules in order to get their golden boy back inside the Octagon.
Speaking about the situation during his WEIGHING IN podcast alongside former fighter Josh Thomson, ex-UFC referee John McCarthy suggested that the promotion’s path to making the fight happen is fairly simple, but it all hinges on getting Michael Chandler to play ball.
“Dana is gonna bring in Michael Chandler, or Michael Chandler’s managers and make a deal,” McCarthy said. “Let’s be honest. That’s what it’s gonna be. Because he’s not going to be… Michael Chandler is going to have to… Especially based on what happened before with Mark Hunt [and Brock Lesnar], Michael Chandler is going to have to agree that Conor is not going to be tested for the six months before like Henry Cejudo had to do.
In 2016, former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar returned to the Octagon for a clash with Mark Hunt at UFC 200. Due to the short-notice nature of his return, Lesnar was given an exemption to compete despite not being enrolled in the USADA testing pool for the standard six months required. Lesnar went on to win the bout, but it was later revealed that the WWE Superstar had tested positive for clomiphene both before and after the event.
Mark Hunt ultimately filed a lawsuit against the promotion, claiming that UFC officials knew of Lesnar’s positive test before UFC 200 and kept it under wraps in an effort to keep him on the card.
Tai Tuivasa was in Mark Hunt's corner for his fight with Brock Lesnar:
The biggest fucking human I've ever seen.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/KYeliNS8G1
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 29, 2022
“It’s going to be an abbreviated testing schedule for Conor for him to fight in December,” McCarthy continued. “Let’s just be honest. It’s the middle of August. You’ve got September, October, November, December. That’s four. That’s as much as you’re going to get. So you take a look and say, ‘Michael Chandler, are you going to make a lot of money here? Are you okay if he’s only tested for three months?’ Michael Chandler’s going to go, ‘Yep, I’m good.’
“But you’re gonna have to get Chandler to sign off on that because they’re not going to go through another lawsuit like they did with what happened before.”
We were previously told that a date for Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler would be announced during the #TUF31 airing.
The finale’s go down on Saturday night at #UFC292 in Boston.
Do you think we see the two face off in the cage on Saturday with a date announcement?🤔🔥 pic.twitter.com/YDLnSDVRYZ
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) August 16, 2023
Josh Thomson Suggests Nobody Will Care About USADA’s Lack of Involvement in Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler
With USADA potentially taking a backseat to the inevitable clash between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, some might expect there to be a bit of an uproar from fans, fighters, and the MMA media. But according to John McCarthy’s podcast co-host Josh Thomson, nobody is going to care so long as it results in the fight being booked.
Even if there are those who do care, Thomson believes high-ranking members of the media will be far too scared to say so for fear of having their credentials or their careers put in jeopardy.
“Nobody’s going to make a big deal about USADA not being involved,” Thomson said. “The media won’t do it because they won’t want their credentials taken away covering the UFC. Let’s be honest. Sh*t still happens no matter what any one of these f*cking media people say. It still happens and no, they will not cover it.
“There will be one or two brave souls that go out there and say that this is ridiculous. They’ll make a story about it and then we’ll never hear from them again. They will just fall into the abyss as media and they will no longer work for whoever they work for. You know what I mean. I’m poking fun at it, but they’re not going to cover it the way you would think they would cover it.”
While that may be a bit of an extreme take, Thomson’s point remains valid. As long as McGregor vs. Chandler gets booked for December, is anyone really going to care how many tests the former two-division world champ has submitted to USADA?
“The biggest thing is this: No one’s going to care. They want to see the fight. They’re going to bend the knee to get the fight to happen and that’s what’s going to happen,” Thomson concluded.
