After a weary two years of waiting, ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler is finally returning to the UFC this November at UFC 309 in its co-main event to fight Charles Oliveria. Despite getting his UFC 303 hopes squashed by ‘The Notorious’, the former Bellator champion remains optimistic about the Conor McGregor fight, asserting that it’s still unfinished business.
Citing the behind the scene assurances, Chandler recently shared his thoughts on the chances of Chandler vs McGregor with fellow UFC contender, Bo Nickal on his YouTube channel.
Conor is too big of a name to let go of, even for a consummate revered champion like Chandler!
Credits: Imago
The former Bellator champion asserted that he still had unfinished business with the Dubliner and had already waited long enough for it to happen. He also not-so-subtly hinted that the bout is too big for the UFC to miss and that they had reassured him of making it happen.
After all, the Ultimate Fighter 31 chapter is yet to be closed.
“Obviously I want the Conor (McGregor) fight. I feel like we have unfinished business, we’ve to finish the Ultimate Fighter 31. Also, I waited long enough, I waited the right amount of time, having the security and the reassurances behind the scenes nobody knew about to actually get the fight booked.”
In the meantime, Chandler who is gearing up for his New York return weighed in on his thoughts about the potential Islam Makhachev vs Arman Tsarukyan lightweight title clash, taking a rather surprising one-sided stance on it.
Islam over Arman for Chandler
Michael Chandler has a clear-cut view of the division’s future. While focusing his efforts on a title run, the lightweight has taken a surprising stance on the Makhachev vs Tsarukyan. In fact, if he can avenge his 2021 loss to ‘De Bronx’ Chandler will turn his attention to the champ, Makhachev who is next expected to put his 155-lb belt on the line in a rematch with #1 contender Arman Tsarukyan.
Explaining his thoughts to Ariel Helwani, Chandler claimed that it is not going to be a close fight like the last time and picked the Dagestani to outclass the younger fighter.
“I fancy Islam (in that fight). I’ll be sitting there cageside seeing who my next opponent is. I think Islam is just — he has evolved a lot over the last couple of fights. He’s going to get the takedown. If he does get the takedown, I think he can get the submission. And obviously, he showed against Poirier that he’s something to be reckoned with on the feet these days.
According to him, the Russian has evolved through the years, becoming a more polished striker, and said that he’d pick Makhachev over the young Amernian any day.
