Michael Chandler Suggests UFC White House Match vs. Conor McGregor Is On

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Michael
Chandler is telling the fight community there’s a chance.

For nearly three years, Chandler (23-10) has been linked to a bout
with former two-division champion Conor
McGregor (22-6). The promotion first announced in February 2023
that the two would serve as coaches on the 31st season of “The
Ultimate Fighter,” after which the two would collide in a
welterweight clash. The UFC set up their bout for UFC 303 in June
2024, but a foot injury sustained by the Irishman scuttled the
pairing.

At the “New Year’s Eve Life: Nashville’s Big Bash” broadcast
on Wednesday night, Chandler appeared on the CBS-run show with host
and comic Bert Kreischer. During his brief appearance, Kreischer
goaded Chandler into his big reveal: a fight with McGregor is back
on the table again.

“I will say, it’s gonna be a big year,” Chandler said with a grin
after being called Kreischer’s wife’s “favorite human being.”
“Number one, like you said, the UFC is now on Paramount+, the
entire year…for the multitude of [years]…and also, there’s a rumor
going around. We can’t confirm nor deny, but it does sound like I
might be handing Conor McGregor a good ol’ passionate, ‘red, white
and blue’ butt whooping in the South Lawn of the White House
sometime this summer. And that’s the plan, let’s go.”

Steep Hill to Climb

McGregor stepped away from the sport following his second stoppage
loss to Dustin
Poirier in 2021. Multiple injuries to “Notorious” kept him on
the shelf for a prolonged time, allowing him to focus on other
ventures like selling his Proper 12 whiskey company for around $600
million, and buying a stake in Bare Knuckle Fighting
Championship—for the latter, McGregor declared he would also fight
under its banner before retiring.

Over the years, McGregor has been involved in multiple criminal and
civil instances including numerous occasions where he allegedly
struck or assaulted someone—ranging from the infamous scene in 2019
where he punched a pensioner for refusing his whiskey, to breaking
musician Francesco Facchinietti’s nose in a nightclub, to
allegations of assaulting a woman on his yacht while anchored
outside of Spain, or decking the Miami Heat mascot to crack the
costume-wearer’s jaw. Also, he recently was found civilly liable of
the sexual assault of Nikita Hand in 2018, where he has been
ordered to pay damages as well as her court costs. He even briefly
cast his hat in the ring to run for the president of Ireland, but
withdrew before seeking mandatory nominations from the Irish
Parliament called Oireachtas Eireann.

Since McGregor’s last in-cage excursion, Chandler has competed four
times. Facing Tony
Ferguson, Poirier, Charles
Oliveira and Paddy
Pimblett, the Kill Cliff FC staple only beat Ferguson of that
bunch. His last victory came in May 2022, compared to McGregor’s
over Donald
Cerrone in January 2020. Should the match materialize at 170
pounds, it would Chandler’s first jaunt at that weight division
since a 2010 outing in Strikeforce. On the other hand, McGregor vs. Cerrone
took place at welterweight.