There is a massive fight that’s lingering out there that the UFC has yet to finalize a date for. That is the matchup between former two-division champion and promotional superstar Conor McGregor (22-6) and former title challenger and Bellator world champ Michael Chandler (23-8).
The biggest superstar against arguably the promotion’s most exciting fighter. On New Year’s Day, Conor McGregor announced that he was facing Michael Chandler on June 29th which would headline the UFC’s International Fight Week card. However, Dana White has since shut that down saying nothing has been finalized.
White put a little more water on the fire with recent comments about the complications with making this fight and mentioned the fall being a possibility for this fight. With the fall comments, the fans collectively rolled their eyes. White has pointed to money and obligations on the McGregor side of things aiding in the delay of the matchup.
At the UFC 298 post-fight press conference, White said McGregor has never held out for more money, but the money he’s making with other avenues and his obligations have made it complicated to finalize fights.
McGregor and Chandler coached opposite each other on The Ultimate Fighter last year. Originally, the hope was that the UFC would book these two against each other at the end of 2023. However, McGregor didn’t re-enter the USADA testing pool until the end of last year and he won’t be eligible to compete until April at the earliest.
Michael Chandler is confident the UFC books this fight
UFC 300 was a target for both Chandler and McGregor, however, for one reason or another it didn’t work out. It now looks like the June date is not going to workout, however, Chandler did tell Ariel Helwani today on the MMA Hour that there are some dates over the summer that makes sense for the matchup.
Despite this fight getting delayed over and over, Michael Chandler isn’t budging. He’s not backing away from this fight and he’s not wanting to move away from it. He is dead set on fighting Conor McGregor and he told Helwani that the UFC has assured him that this fight is going to happen.
We don’t have a date and there’s no weight class decided on per Chandler, but one thing for sure, the fight is happening. It just looks like we will have to continue being patient with this one.