We are just a couple of weeks away from the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter debuting on ESPN. The coaches for this season are former two-division champion and superstar Conor McGregor (22-6) and former title challenger “Iron” Michael Chandler (23-8).
Chandler has been wanting this fight since he made his debut in the UFC. I mean, who wouldn’t want to fight Conor McGregor. He’s the biggest superstar in combat sports history plus a win over him gets you a ton of attention regardless of his recent record.
The two men filmed the upcoming season of TUF earlier this year and a teaser for the show can be viewed here. In the teaser, you can see a heated exchange where McGregor shoves Chandler in the throat adding a little heat to the potential fight.
That said, there’s been no movement on a date for the fight. There has been some questions regarding McGregor and his status in the USADA testing pool. With that, there have been delays in any kind of announcement. However, it appears we should be hearing something soon.
UFC to announce something soon?
McGregor was out and about this week gearing up to celebrate his youngest son’s second birthday when TMZ caught up with him. McGregor said that the fight with Chandler will be announced very soon. He also restated his goal of setting the UFC record for the most knockouts a record that Matt Brown just tied this past weekend.
If we are looking at the calendar, the McGregor – Chandler fight is likely going to take place towards the end of the year. August appears to be the targeted date of Aljamain Sterling – Sean O’Malley so the fight won’t happen then. September is open and it is scheduled for Vegas. I could see that happening, however, there’s rumors floating about that being the target for Leon Edwards – Colby Covington.
October is their Abu Dhabi card and I can’t see McGregor and Chandler on that card. November, the UFC returns to MSG. McGregor headlined the first MSG card when he became the lightweight champion. I would say that date makes a ton of sense, but the promotion is trying to book Jon Jones – Stipe Miocic for that card.
I cannot see McGregor and Jones on the same card given the PPV paying structure to both fighters. All that being said, I’m thinking December might be the date. A lot of people will roll their eyes, but December would give McGregor his six months in the USADA pool and it just matches up the best with the UFC’s current schedule. Time will tell, but if I was a betting man, I’d say December.