Conor McGregor will likely face ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler on his return to the UFC octagon, according to Dana White.
In an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA, the UFC president reportedly confirmed that McGregor will not be retiring anytime soon and that the Irishman still sees himself actively competing in the sport after his horrible leg fracture at UFC 264.
A producer at ESPN, Charlie Moynihan, broke the news first. Tweeting out:
“And @TheNotoriousMMA next fight is likely against @MikeChandlerMMA.”
While the full interview has not been officially released yet, the tweet basically confirmed what a lot of MMA fans already suspected. There was little chance of the UFC’s biggest superstar ignoring someone with hype like Chandler.
‘Iron’ has earned himself quite a bit of respect among fans with his blockbuster fighting style and will match well against McGregor stylistically without a doubt. Both are explosive strikers with a penchant for entertaining the fans
Following his spectacular front-kick knockout of Tony Ferguson, Chandler emphatically called out ‘The Notorious’ in his octagon interview.
Islam Makhachev, the reigning lightweight champion of the promotion, reacted to this news with irony.
I hope this fight will happen, and one of them will finally win
Obviously, Makhachev is hinting that both McGregor and Chandler are not having the best time of their careers.
Conor McGregor is on a two-fight losing streak to Dustin Poirier, fracturing his leg in his last outing against the Louisiana native. The Irishman will also likely fight at welterweight next if his social media posts are anything to go by. His last victory came against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.
Michael Chandler is just 2-3 in the UFC and is coming off a submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281.
