Dana White doubles down Conor McGregor will fight Michael Chandler

Dana White doubled down that Conor McGregor will fight Michael Chandler upon the Irishman’s return to the UFC octagon.

When? That’s still to-be-determined. White talked about McGregor’s return and fight against Chandler following the premier of the latest season of Dana White’s Contender Series.

With one episode to go in The Ultimate Fighter, pitting McGregor against Chandler as coaches, fans might be getting restless. White doubled down after previously saying McGregor would fight in 2023.

“I talked to Conor, it was either yesterday or the day before and yeah, he’s ready to fight,” White said. “Listen, just get in shape. Let’s figure this out … He’s fighting Chandler. Conor likes to (expletive) with everybody and I mean, especially his opponent or possible opponents.”

White referred to McGregor’s callouts on Twitter, specifically of Justin Gaethje and Nate Diaz, signaling that a fight against Chandler went by the wayside.

McGregor took a shot at Chandler saying he’ll fight him, but claimed the UFC didn’t exactly want the matchup anymore.

Chandler accelerated discussion on social media when he responded to McGregor’s promotion of his beer: Forged Stout.

“You spelled USADA wrong @TheNotoriousMMA …when are you going to exclusively give a sample so we can finish what we started? #BeHereToTakePart,” Chandler wrote on Twitter.

In a deleted tweet, McGregor responded:

“Morning Mike (wave emoji),” McGregor wrote to Chandler before deleting. “I just took a humongous (expletive) right there, just for you. Bout to have a coffee now, have a good day.”

Since the lightweight title win, his second UFC belt, McGregor is 1-3 in the UFC over the course of seven years. He lost a title fight to Khabib Nurmagomedov, knocked out Donald Cerrone in a welterweight bout and lost two fights to Dustin Poirier in 2021.

“A lot of people are interested when it’s going to happen,” Chandler said of McGregor in July. “When’s Conor coming back? When’s our fight going to happen, now that we’re building it with The Ultimate Fighter (and) all that kind of stuff. So I understand. I understand people’s eagerness to get the answers. 

“Historically, the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter have never not fought. And I don’t think Conor would ever want to delve into his legacy being tarnished by him coming back and not (fighting).”

Chandler is 23-8 in his MMA career and 2-3 in the UFC after he came over from Bellator. He is the former Bellator Lightweight Champion and did fight for the UFC belt, but lost to Charles Oliveira in May of 2021.