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Michael Chandler gets real regarding failed Conor McGregor UFC booking

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Zain Bando | Last updated May 31, 2025 7:29 PM ET

Michael Chandler still hasn’t given up hope that Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon to finish their TUF story.

The two served as coaches on TUF 31 in the summer of 2023 and were set to fight last June before a pinky toe injury blew up the UFC’s initial International Fight Week plans for UFC 303.

Nearly a year later, Chandler is fresh off back-to-back losses to Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett and is still asked whether a McGregor fight makes sense.

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Chandler Talks Likelihood Of McGregor Fight

In Chandler’s mind, it does, but he is good to go with the flow if McGregor never fights again.

Chandler peeled back the curtain in an eye-opening interview with MMAJunkie.

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“The Conor-Chandler thing just stays alive, right?” Chandler asked. “Just a couple of weeks ago, all of a sudden, he said, 'Iron' Michael Chandler, unfinished business.' It's not just the fact that we had the contract that we were supposed to fight in June, we did The Ultimate Fighter, we have to finish The Ultimate Fighter. It's just like staying alive.”

Chandler said he is willing to wait for McGregor if that’s what it takes to get the dream fight he has pushed for for two years.

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“If me and Conor are supposed to fight, and he's supposed to come back, it's gonna happen and I don't need to force it. With that being said, if I'm a betting man, I'm not sure if he comes back. Do I want to fight him? Do I want to finish The Ultimate Fighter 31? Absolutely. So, we'll see.”

It’s just another day in the McGregor-Chandler saga with no fight attached. Silence from the UFC, barely crickets from McGregor, and everything in between just makes the situation even stranger, as talks seem all but a pipe dream, or dead.

And that’s MMA.