UFC 303: What did Chandler say about the fight with McGregor?

The Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler super fight has probably become the biggest soap opera in UFC history.

After more than one year in the making and a few postponements, mixed with uncertainty, controversies, and some drama doses, the battle between The Ultimate Fighter 31 coaches seems to be far from being a reality.

Since The Notorious broke his leg in 2021 in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier, the former simultaneous UFC double champion hasn’t returned to the octagon. After not being able to re-enter the USADA testing pool in time and with UFC president Dana White not being clear about the clash for a while, the Dublin native and Chandler spent quite a long time away from the cage, just training to be in shape in case an announcement was made official.

After UFC 300, White finally announced it: the fight was on and both men were expected to meet on June 28 for UFC 303′s main event.

However, things got messy again this week, when one of the fight’s scheduled pressers, expected in Dublin, was canceled. The UFC released a statement that didn’t include any specific reason, while McGregor stated that the press conference was called off “due to a series of obstacles outside of our control”.

Will the McGregor vs Chandler fight ever happen?

After the press conference cancelation, MMA fans shared their pessimism on social media, stating that a possible McGregor injury could be the reason for the unexpected event.

However, Chandler is already used to this kind of surprise and admits he remained calm despite the whole situation.

“A canceled presser, not that big of a deal, right? It happens. But it’s the layers in which if a presser is canceled, is something else wrong? Is there something going on? Obviously, then immediately speculation starts going all over the place in 2024, social media and all that stuff”, he said.

“I just kept resting in the fact that I can only control what I can control. I’ve been doing that now for a year and a half with this whole fight”, he added.

Asked whether the fight will finally happen or not, Chandler didn’t hesitate:

“I do believe that Conor shows up. Conor shows up under the bright lights. He lives for these moments”, he concluded.

Over the last few days, different names have been revealed as potential replacements for McGregor, with Alexander Volkanovski being the first on the list. However, it seems that the company’s priority is to wait for McGregor and Chandler to be completely ready for UFC 303.