The former UFC lightweight title challenger and three-time Bellator lightweight champion has not fought since his third-round submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 287. He has since coached opposite Michael Chandler in the 31st season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Conor McGregor recently announced his comeback to the octagon on New Year’s Eve via an X post. His opponent is none other than Michael Chandler and McGregor made it clear that the fight will be on June 29, 2024, in the middleweight division.
Michael Chandler talks on bout vs Conor McGregor
Fifth-ranked UFC lightweight Michael Chandler, on his YouTube channel, expressed his enthusiasm to fight the sport’s biggest superstar, ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor. Chandler was all praise for McGregor for his skills and also the notoriety that he holds. As such, Chandler feels that it is a pivotal moment in his long combat sports career.
Chandler also addressed the issue of McGregor wanting their fight to be at middleweight which he attributes to McGregor’s mind games. The narrative on social media is that McGregor has put on significant weight during his recovery after his unfortunate leg break at UFC 264. Nonetheless, Chandler is ready to face McGregor at any weight, even though he has only competed at 155 pounds in MMA and has never missed weight.
It needs to be noted that it was Chandler who first challenged McGregor at a higher weight class. After his brutal front kick KO victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274, Chandler called out the Irishman for a fight in the welterweight division, where McGregor is 2-1. McGregor’s recent counterargument of fighting at middleweight is assumed by Chandler as a way to show who is boss as McGregor is accustomed to doing.
Chandler, an accomplished collegiate wrestler, signed with the UFC after leaving Bellator and made his debut in the UFC at UFC 257 against Dan Hooker. He finished Hooker with a first-round KO and has since faced the likes of Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Tony Ferguson. All four aforementioned held titles in the lightweight division.
When did Michael Chandler last fight in 5 round bout?
As a one-time UFC title challenger and three-time Bellator champion, Michael Chandler has experience fighting 5-round fights. Chandler has been scheduled to fight in 5-round fights a total of 12 times but has only gone the distance 4 times in his career. His UFC title fight against Charles Oliveira was his most recent bout scheduled for five rounds, but he lost the fight via TKO in the second round.
The last time Chandler went the full 5 rounds was at Bellator 212, when he reclaimed the lightweight title for the third time with a unanimous decision victory over Brent Primus. Of his 12 scheduled 5-round fights, he has lost 6 and won 6, and of the 4 fights that went the full 5 rounds, he is 2-2.
I want 5. I’m sure he wants 3. https://t.co/kxkwsT1VHw
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) January 10, 2024
Chandler’s upcoming bout with McGregor is presumed to last five rounds. In a Q&A session on the social media platform X, Chandler responded to the question of the number of rounds for his fight with McGregor. He replied that he wanted the fight to be five-round and he presumed that McGregor wanted a 3-round fight.
Chandler’s opponent Conor McGregor has been scheduled to fight five-round fights 11 times in his career, but only once has gone the full distance. The lone 5-round affair saw him prevail over Nate Diaz via majority decision at UFC 202. Nonetheless, he is 7-4 in scheduled 5-round fights, with his losses only against Khabib Nurmagomedov, Nate Diaz, and Dustin Poirier twice.
Do you think Michael Chandler will defeat Conor McGregor? Leave you prediction below!
