Michael Chandler has no regrets.
It’s been nearly two years since the UFC first teased a potential scrap between Chandler and former Irish megastar Conor McGregor. Since then, we’ve seen the two stars compete on a season of The Ultimate Fighter and even book a main-event showdown for UFC 303 in June. Unfortunately, the fight never came to fruition after ‘Mystic Mac’ bowed out due to a broken pinky toe.
Running low on patience, ‘Iron’ opted to move on from McGregor—for now. Instead, Chandler will return to the Octagon on November 16 for a rematch with former lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden.
During a recent interview with Damon Martin of MMA Fighting, Chandler made it clear that he holds no ill will toward McGregor after years of waiting for essentially nothing.
“I don’t blame him for anything. I really don’t. Outsiders can look at say, ‘Man, you must have Conor. Conor did this to him. Conor did that to him. The UFC did this to him.’ I did all this to myself.
“At any given time, I could have jumped off the train and said let me fight someone else. At any given time, I could have said I am done with this. I could have said no to the obligations and changed course. I put myself in this position. It was a position I wanted to be in. It was a decision I made.”
Michael Chandler isn’t holding any grudges towards Conor McGregor over fight delays
(🎥: @damonmartin) pic.twitter.com/yog6QhrqvQ
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) September 19, 2024
Michael Chandler Still Aiming for a January 2025 Clash with Conor McGregor
While ‘Iron’ is focused on the task at hand, the former Bellator champion still believes that a fight with Conor McGregor is in the cards. If he can come out on top against ‘Do Bronx’ relatively unscathed, the goal is to make a quick turnaround and finally fight ‘Mystic Mac’ in early 2025.
“I got a job to do. A great opportunity to fight Charles Oliveira. I plan on running through Oliveira, getting out healthy, and being able to fight Conor as early as January if the athletic commissions don’t give me too long of a suspension. I can fight Conor first of the year and still go fight Islam [Makhachev].
“Running through Charles Oliveira and Conor McGregor in a couple of month’s span and then fighting for the UFC title—that’s a heck of a run.”
Michael Chandler said that after beating Charles Oliveira he will fight Conor McGregor in January 2025:
“I plan on running through Charles Oliveira, getting out healthy, and being able to fight Conor [McGregor] as early as January [2025]"
VIA | @MMAFighting #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/f80ZasXaW3
— FEDZ_MMA (@Fedzmma) September 19, 2024
After nearly finishing Oliveira in the opening round of their UFC 262 clash, Chandler fell 19 seconds into the second round via a left hook followed by some brutal ground-and-pound.
Rewatch their first fight below:
