Michael Chandler Hunts Conor McGregor Clash: ‘It’s The Biggest Fight In MMA Right Now’
Amid the shuffling of the UFC lightweight division following a series of high-profile bookings between top division contenders, one-time title challenger, Michael Chandler maintains the time is still right to book him in a fight against former two-division champion, Conor McGregor.
Out of action since May, Michael Chandler, who snapped a run of two straight losses at UFC 274, did so in dramatic fashion – stopping former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson with a brutal second round front kick knockout.
As for McGregor, the former undisputed lightweight and featherweight champion has been sidelined for over a year from the Octagon – fracturing his left tibia back in July during his trilogy rubber match with Dustin Poirier atop UFC 264.
Over the course of the last two weeks, however, a slew of high-profile lightweight matchups have been booked in the division – with Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev set for an October meeting, while Beneil Dariush and Mateusz Gamrot meet on the same UFC 280 card to boot.
Michael Chandler believes he and Conor McGregor will put on the “biggest fight in MMA”
Once more campaigning for a fight with the 34-year-old McGregor, Chandler described a potential bout as the biggest fight in the sport at the moment.
“I think it does. Obviously, I think the biggest thing for Conor (McGregor) is timeline,” Michael Chandler told TMZ Sports. “The guy snapped his leg. It wasn’t a small injury. It required surgery, maybe multiple surgeries, a titanium rod going in and all that stuff. As you’ve seen my pursuit of the Conor McGregor fight – the Chandler vs. Conor fight, in my pursuit I’m not going to be throwing stones at the guy.”
“The guy completely shattered his leg and it was literally just a year ago,” Michael Chandler said. “Have people come back quicker than he’s going to come back? Yes, probably, but we don’t know the extent of Conor’s injury. All we know is he snapped it last July. We’ve seen him post some stuff on social media, we’ve seen he’s getting back to training, but the sport is better and the organization and the lightweight division is better when Conor McGregor is part of it. That being said, he needs to come back at the right time.”
“I do think it opens the door if Conor’s coming back any time soon. I’m not booked right now. If Conor’s coming back anytime soon I think me and Conor would make some fireworks and I think it’s the fight fans want to see. I think it’s the biggest fight that we can make in mixed martial arts right now and I try to say that as humbly as possible, but I think it’s a huge fight.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
