Michael Chandler has insisted that his fight with Conor McGregor will go ahead, despite fears that the latter has missed the deadline to compete in 2023.
Chandler vs McGregor was announced by the UFC in February, but no date, location or weight class has been announced for the fight, and it appears that McGregor is unable to compete until next year due to United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) rules.
The former UFC champion is seemingly still absent from the Usada testing pool, and athletes must be in the pool for six months and return two negative results – and zero negatives – in order to fight in the UFC.
However, Chandler has reassured fans that the fight will go ahead – regardless of when. The American, 37, told ESPN on Wednesday (28 June): “Listen, I understand everybody wants answers, they want results. With a fight of this magnitude – the most exciting guy in mixed martial arts versus the biggest superstar in mixed martial arts – people want answers, and they want them on their timeline.
“Their timeline is now. ‘I want my answers yesterday.’ I’m with everybody else, of course, but just let the process play out. Just know that Michael Chandler steps in the cage against Conor McGregor, we put on an electrifying event, and I separate him from his consciousness in the second round.
“If there’s one thing I know about Conor: He cares about his public persona, he cares about how people see him, he cares about where he is now and what he has become to the fans. [If you’re not coming back], you don’t do a documentary saying you’re coming back; you don’t tell everybody it’s the greatest comeback in combat-sports history; you’re not out there promoting yourself and saying, ‘This is my game forever, you’ll do what you’re told;’ and calling yourself the pound-for-pound king.
“Conor’s coming back. There’s one guy he’s fighting: His name’s Michael Chandler, he’s from High Ridge, Missouri. We are gonna put butts in seats, it’s gonna be an electrifying performance, but I knock out Conor and then maybe he retires after that – we’ll see.”
McGregor this month denied an allegation that he had sexually assaulted a woman at an NBA game— (Getty Images)
Chandler and McGregor are coaching opposing teams of athletes on the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, which began airing in May and will conclude in August. After five episodes of this season of the UFC television show, Team Chandler has a 5-0 lead over Team McGregor.
This month, Irishman McGregor denied an allegation that he had sexually assaulted a woman at an NBA Finals game. McGregor, 34, was accused of assault in a bathroom at a Miami Heat fixture on 9 June.
McGregor also recently released McGregor Forever, the second documentary around his career, and you can read The Independent’s review of the Netflix series here.
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