‘Big’ John McCarthy declares Michael Chandler facing Conor McGregor is “The dumbest idea ever.”

ByTimothy Wheaton Feb 7, 2023Feb 7, 2023

'Big' John McCarthy declares Michael Chandler facing Conor McGregor fighting is "The Dumbest Idea Ever."

‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in on Michael Chandler agreeing to a showdown against Conor McGregor. The US-Born Chandler and Irish superstar McGregor have agreed to a fight after coaching a season of The Ultimate Fighter. Rumour has it that this fight will be at 170 lbs.

McGregor is a former two-division world champion in the UFC having simultaneously captured the featherweight and lightweight thrones. He has been out of action since going 0-2 against Dustin Poirier in 2021 and has been recovering from a broken leg. ‘Notorious’ Conor McGregor plans on making a comeback to the octagon in 2023.

Michael Chandler is a former multi-time Bellator lightweight world champion who made his UFC debut in early 2021. Since then, he has put together a record of 2-3 in the organization but has created a reputation for the excitement he brings in every fight. In just five fights, win or lose, he has earned four performance bonuses.

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John McCarthy thinks Chandler accepting a Conor McGregor fight is dumb

Alongside his co-host Josh Thompson, on their podcast, ‘Big’ John McCarthy discussed how he feels about Chandler taking a fight against Conor McGregor. McCarthy explained:

“No [Chandler isn’t beating McGregor]. [But] I would love to think so,” McCarthy began. “Michael has that, for whatever reason, in his mind, it’s more important to be exciting than it is to win. And in this fight right here, it’s the dumbest idea ever. Because if you get the win, what does that mean? You probably get a second one. Which means you can do what Dustin Poirier did.”

He added:

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“And you put yourself in a position to make great money because Conor brings big money,” he continued. “And if Michael Chandler was smart, he would work on his wrestling, he would just hone it to a fine edge and be able to put pressure, and take the blueprint that you saw from Khabib and use that blueprint to beat Conor and get that win and then, you wanna be exciting in the in the rematch? go ahead yeah, I don’t care, but you’re talking about retirement money.” [Transcript courtesy Middle Easy]

Is McCarthy right on the money in this case?

See the full podcast episode below:

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Timothy Wheaton

Timothy Wheaton is a combat sports writer who covers MMA, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai. He has been an avid follower of these sports since 2005. Tim has even covered the UFC, GLORY Kickboxing, and Bellator in person at live events.

With Low Kick MMA, Tim has contributed interviews, articles, and podcasts.

Tim also works with a host of other media sites such as Calf Kick Sports, Sportskeeda MMA, MMA Sucka, Vecht Sport Info, Fighters First, and Beyond Kickboxing. Tim is is the authority on kickboxing and MMA journalist who has covered K-1, PRIDE FC, UFC, GLORY Kickboxing, Bellator, ONE Championship, and plenty more.