Michael Chandler believes he and Conor McGregor should fight on July 1 as the main event of the UFC's International Fight Week.
The Irishman will have been out of action for almost two years to the day when next year's showcase event rolls around in Las Vegas, and would be a huge attraction for fans. He appears to be recovered from the broken leg he suffered against Dustin Poirier but is six months away from being eligible to compete due to a lack of USADA testing.
And Chandler, the former Bellator champion who is one of the UFC's most exciting lightweights, believes that he is the perfect opponent for the Irishman to return against. He has been pushing for the fight as long as he's been in the promotion, and McGregor appears keen on the idea as well, telling him back in May that they would fight at some point in his career.
“People will say I’m chasing the Red Panty Night, and I’m chasing the payday," Chandler told ESPN. "And yes, that’s a part of it, it’s always going to be a part of the conversation that people talk about when you’re fighting Conor McGregor, but I want battlegrounds of epic proportions.
"I want the brightest lights. I want the biggest platforms. I want to go out there on the verge of a heart attack because the moment is so big. And what is bigger than fighting Conor McGregor? And at this point, him coming back, what is bigger than Conor McGregor stepping into the octagon with, I’ve got to be the most electrifying man in the UFC right now?
"It’s the biggest fight to make, it’s the most PPV sales that can be made right now, at this current juncture, in the entire world of MMA, I think Conor knows it, I think the UFC knows it, and I think it’s going to happen International Fight Week of 2023.”
Chandler was defeated by Poirier in one of the fights of the year at UFC 281 in New York City, but remains a big name at lightweight. And he's willing to move up to welterweight in order to face McGregor, who has bulked up considerably during his time away from the octagon.
Who would win; Conor McGregor or Michael Chandler? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
“We’re the same size, we’re the same weight," Chandler explained earlier in the show. "It’s hard, because I’m not a self promoter. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m the most exciting guy on the roster. I’m not going to sit here and say I am the guy who is a huge, huge, pay-per-view draw.
"It just doesn’t seem right, because I am me and I’m in mine own little microcosm of Michael Chandler’s little life in Nashville, Tennessee. But when you look at it on the world stage, and you look at the response, and you look at the die hard, ‘I don’t care who he’s fighting, when he’s fighting, where he’s fighting, I am tuning in and buying the PPV for a Michael Chandler fight,' those people are coming out of the wood work.
"It’s crazy the amount of buzz that is on me, my fight style, my fights, every single time. The UFC knows it, I think Conor knows it, Conor’s team knows it, the whole world of MMA knows it. So if he comes back, when he comes back, I’m going to take a little bit of time off to heal up and make sure I take care of my family, take care of my body and I think the timeline works out really, really well whenever he wants to come back.
"And tell me, who’s a bigger draw or a bigger fight than me and Conor right now? The only thing is, I’m definitely not an easy fight. If you look at risk vs. reward of who’s a big name but also, ‘I need to go out there and smash somebody,’ there’s some easier fights than me. But is there a bigger fight than me? I don’t think so. I really don’t.”
