Written by Michael Chandler | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Michael Chandler didn’t get the result he wanted after losing a unanimous decision to Charles Oliveira in a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 309.
The fight came almost exactly two years after Chandler last appeared in the UFC because he sat out waiting for the chance to face Conor McGregor following a season spent coaching against each other on The Ultimate Fighter. Sadly, McGregor suffered a broken toe back in June that cancelled their scheduled fight and Chandler eventually had to move on after it was clear the former two-division UFC champion wasn’t coming back any time soon.
Now UFC CEO Dana White says he expects McGregor to return sometime in late 2025 but Chandler is adamant that there’s only one opponent he should entertain when and if that happens.
“Conor and I need to finish The Ultimate Fighter 31 — if he comes back,” Chandler said on the UFC 309 post-fight show. “He either needs to retire and just sail off into the sunset or he needs to come back. So we’ll see what happens.”
Of course, Chandler never gave up hope on fighting McGregor but he just couldn’t continue to put his own career on hold waiting for a matchup that had no date attached to it.
While the loss to Oliveira is a setback, Chandler understands he’s still a very marketable commodity with a lot of options available to him.
Chandler specifically mentioned former UFC featherweight king and current “baddest motherf*cker” champion Max Holloway as another opponent that draws his interest.
That said, Chandler still has his sights set on the McGregor fight, although it doesn’t look like he’s exactly holding his breath for that one.
“Max coming up to 155 [is interesting],” Chandler said. “Conor figuring out his stuff outside of fighting in an octagon. Figuring out if he’s going to come back, when he can come back, when he can get his house in order. Those are two great names.
“The lightweight division is stacked, full of awesome dudes. Awesome athletes and just awesome individuals. I’ll enjoy the holidays. About January, I will be speaking to Hunter [Campbell] and Dana [White] and saying ‘so what’s on the docket for 2025?’ We’ll see. Those are two names that I obviously want.”