Michael Chandler admits to ‘shedding tears’ over Conor McGregor fight cancellations

Chandler has even gone on to fight in the interim, losing to Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett in bouts that haven’t seemingly cut fan interest in the McGregor fight at all.

“The one thing I can control is how I show up every single day,” Chandler told BetVictor Casino. “And I’ve had my days, I’ve had my bad moments, I’ve had my pity parties, I’ve shed some tears, I’ve said some words, but ultimately life is good.

“If this whole thing does work out, and we’re fighting on the White House lawn here in a couple months, my goodness. I ain’t gonna say I told you so, but it’s just like, God will. He’s gonna be like, hey man, I told you I had you this whole time, dude, you know. So we’ll see.”

Michael Chandler holds ‘no ill will’ towards Conor McGregor despite cancelled fights

Chandler also noted that he doesn’t necessarily blame his rival for why they haven’t fought, insisting that it is all on him. “I’m a human being. Just like you, just like me, everybody, we’re prone to wondering and being very selfish, very self-centered, very egotistical,” he continued.

“I look at only my situation and how bad my situation is, how the world is unfair in my case. But if you really take a step back and you look at things from a 30,000 foot view, my problems are not that bad.

“The fight gets booked. The fight takes forever. The fight gets cancelled. All these different things, you’re talking about a fight and my career is very important to me.

“And yes, I do work extremely hard and yes, I do make sacrifices and I leave my family and I miss out on a lot of things because I’m so focused on my craft.

“However, my problems really aren’t that bad and they could be a lot worse. I think ultimately I know what I signed up for. I’m fighting another man inside an octagon in some arena.

“The promotion can do what they’re going to do. The opponent can do what they’re going to do. All I can do is focus on myself. So really it’s been a maturation process over the last 16 years of fighting and I think that prepared me for this.

“I hold no ill will towards Conor for pulling out of the fight. I hold no ill will for the fight taking a while and no ill will towards the UFC for not booking it sooner or rebooking it quickly. It’s just not up to me.

“And once you realize it’s not up to you, you can just hold it with your hands open and say, man, whatever is going to be is going to be. I’m just gonna focus on what I can.