Michael Chandler has never sounded this confident about fighting Conor McGregor

Michael Chandler seems sure he’ll finally get to fight Conor McGregor in 2026.

A clash between UFC stars has been in the works since they filmed The Ultimate Fighter together in 2023.

Conor McGregor vs Michael Chandler was supposed to headline UFC 303 in June 2024, but the Irishman broke his toe in training and withdrew from his eagerly anticipated comeback.

‘Iron Mike’ has fought and lost against Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett since then. Meanwhile, the first dual-weight UFC champion has been handed an 18-month ban from the sport for failing to provide anti-doping officials with accurate whereabouts information on three separate occasions.

Michael Chandler teases Conor McGregor fight news

Conor McGregor’s ban was backdated, meaning he will be eligible to compete again on March 20.

That’s almost two months before he plans to return at the UFC White House card on June 14.

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Michael Chandler seems supremely confident that’s when they finally fight.

“I will say it’s gonna be a big year,” he said on live TV during a New Year’s Eve party hosted by the UFC’s broadcast partner, CBS.

“There’s a rumor going around, we can’t confirm or deny it, but it does sound like I might be handing Conor McGregor a good old-fashioned, passionate red, white, and blue butt whooping on the south lawn of the White House sometime this summer.

“That’s the plan. Let’s go.”

Conor McGregor’s comeback hint

Michael Chandler’s positive update came just days after Conor McGregor got tongues wagging.

‘Notorious’ dropped a huge hint that his UFC White House return is officially booked.

On Saturday, McGregor shared a video montage with his 10.4 million X (formerly Twitter) followers.

It was essentially a promo for his fight with Chandler, which he suggested would take place at the White House by captioning it with a White House emoji.

Dana White previously claimed he wouldn’t start building the once-in-a-lifetime fight card until February, but something seems to have happened behind the scenes with the UFC boss, McGregor, and Chandler.

So, stay tuned to Bloody Elbow, and we’ll let you know as soon as this fight is officially announced.