Michael Chandler believes UFC 303 could be the last time you’ll ever see Conor McGregor step foot inside the Octagon.
After more than a year of rampant rumors and lingering doubt, the Irish megastar will strap on the four-ounce gloves for the first time in nearly three years when he meets the former Bellator MMA champion inside T-Mobile Arena for International Fight Week.
June 29th. Conor vs Chandler. 5 rounds. 170lbs.#UFC303 | #UFCFightWeek pic.twitter.com/WtBzfp88XR
— UFC (@ufc) May 8, 2024
It’s been a long road back for McGregor who suffered a devastating leg break in his last outing against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. In the time since, Chandler has established himself as a fan favorite courtesy of his absolute wars with the likes of Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier.
‘Iron’ believes his high-octane style of fighting is what will ultimately get the job done against the Irishman next month. In fact, Chandler is so confident in his ability to put away McGregor, that it could send the megastar into early retirement.
“You have to buy this pay-per-view because this could be the last time that you ever see Conor McGregor fight,” Chandler told New York Post Sports. “I truly believe what I’m going to do to him on June 29 is going to warrant and merit him never stepping back into the Octagon. With that being said, Conor might be able to pull off the greatest comeback in combat sports history.
“He called it, self-proclaimed by him. You know, the guy did snap his leg, it was a very gruesome injury. Many many people wrote him off. I never did, but I thought it was gonna be a hard road to recovery and to come back and get to this moment. So, there’s a chance we see the greatest comeback in combat sports history.
“His opponent is arguably the most exciting guy to ever set foot in the UFC Octagon,” Chandler continued. “What I have done, my strength of schedule, my fights of the night, my fights of the year, my performance bonuses, what I have made in my masterpiece that I have been painting over the couple of years with the UFC…
“It is two of the most explosive, exciting guys, two of the most intriguing guys, and possibly the greatest comeback in combat sports history or Conor McGregor’s last fight, the last time we ever see him compete in mixed martial arts.”
Michael Chandler Explains Viral Pic with Machine Gun Kelly
Michael Chandler also offered up an explanation for his viral photo with Grammy-nominated artist Machine Gun Kelly last month.
63 days…. Plotting with @machinegunkelly #ufc303 pic.twitter.com/nDpX3oGl0h
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) April 28, 2024
MGK and Conor McGregor were involved in a viral confrontation in 2021 while attending the MTV Video Music Awards. Footage of the incident showed the Irishman attempting to strike Kelly and throw a drink at him. Neither one has confirmed what caused the conflict, but early rumors suggested that their beef began when McGregor reached out to MGK’s girlfriend, actress Megan Fox, on social media.
McGregor has vehemently denied those reports.
Running into each other at a music festival in California, Chandler took the opportunity to snap a pic with Kelly and take a dig at ‘Mystic Mac’ in the process.
“We ran into each other at Stagecoach man, I mean, I’ve met so many people in my life and I believe that we are all created in the image of an almighty God and we are all so similar and even in our greatest dissimilarities, we have so many similarities and we’re all just spinning around on this earth for a short amount of time, as long as we get to,” Chandler said.
“So to get the opportunity to meet him, and yeah, obviously it was a picture because it was a nod at Conor and their history and people love to make things of it and either way man, he’s an artist, we are artists of the mixed martial fashion so it just came together at Stagecoach last weekend at kind of my last hurrah before I went into training camp so that was funny too.”
Watch the full interview below:
