UFC lightweight Michael Chandler remains convinced that he’s getting his red panty night. Chandler is supposedly set to fight Conor McGregor, his opposite coach on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, at some point in the near future.
However, McGregor has not entered the USADA testing pool, which is mandatory for UFC fighters, within the six-month time frame necessary to compete by the end of the year. Chandler recently told Daniel Cormier that he’s willing to exercise patience for arguably the biggest fight of his multi-decade career.
Michael Chandler Still Thinks He’s Fighting Conor McGregor This Year
“I’m a fighter’s guy, I’m a fighter’s fighter, there’s a reason people love to watch me fight, the reason they tune in. I think Conor’s coming back. I don’t think he wants to stain his legacy by leading us all down this road of ‘I’m doing The Ultimate Fighter, I’m fighting Michael Chandler. Oh, by the way, never mind. I’m not coming back. Make sure you buy my Irish whiskey’ and all that kind of stuff.
He’s coming back. Yeah, supposedly, there was a countdown with USADA, six months, and all that other stuff. That’s not for me to choose or decide. People are talking about exemptions, of course, that’s all on the table.
All I know is I’m controlling the controllables and I also know that either way, I’m gonna keep on moving forward and I do believe I fight Conor within the next six months. It’s gonna be one of the biggest pay-per-views that we have ever seen, and I’m gonna go out there and knock him out within the first two rounds.”
Chandler also claimed that daily talks are ongoing. “There’s talks going on and happening basically every single day.
It is a moving target and I do understand the intrigue, I understand the annoyance for a lot of people and I understand how quickly people want answers. They want answers and they want them now.
With a fight of this magnitude, two of the most exciting guys in the sport … Obviously, Conor and his comeback, ‘the greatest comeback in combat sports history’ he’s calling it, he’s got his documentary.
A guy like me who loves to fight, I love being active, I’m a guy who puts butts in seats, of course, everybody wants answers. They’re eager for answers. But ultimately, we all have to practice patience.
This for me is a time to practice patience. I knew what I signed up for, I knew doing The Ultimate Fighter there was gonna be a lull and a long period of time and the show — we aren’t even halfway through the show yet.”
