UFC News: Belt at Stake for Conor McGregor’s Return, Suggests Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler has been waiting for over 2 years to fight Conor McGregor. After a lot of ups and downs and nearly a year of uncertainty, UFC CEO Dana White finally announced their fight. The UFC boss confirmed at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference on Saturday that ‘Notorious’ will be back in the octagon for the first after nearly three years.

And no one is happier than Chandler, as, at one point, it seemed like there was a real possibility that the bout may never materialize. However, the bout is finally happening and Chandler will get his much-awaited ‘red panty night’. After the announcement, the former Bellator champion spoke about why he thinks a title may be at stake in their upcoming fight.

Michael Chandler thinks UFC may be planning a title bout for McGregor clash

Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor appeared as rival head coaches on last year’s season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, which saw sparks fly between the two, including a physical confrontation in the octagon mid-season where the Irishman physically shoved Chandler. Dana White intervened to prevent the matter from escalating. But, their animosity was palpable and clear for everyone to see.

After the end of the season, the two were slated to fight last December, but that date fell through for unknown reasons. Now, however, it has been confirmed that the former concurrent two-division champion will make his comeback at UFC 303 in International Fight Week in July. The bout will take place in the 170-pound welterweight division and is expected to be one of the biggest UFC events of the year.

Michael Chandler joined ‘The MacLife’ for an interview where he talked about the McGregor bout. On being asked if he felt that the bout should be for a belt, Chandler was surprisingly optimistic despite no such indications from the UFC.

“I’ll tell you what, man. I mean that was one of the rumors as well right, the 165 belt. Obviously that has not happened… [But] I would not be surprised if all of a sudden that bout agreement comes over and it says for the 165 title. You never know. because the UFC has to keep a lot of things secret even to us… So yeah it’s uh it should be for a belt but we’ll see if we can’t make one up,” he said. But, for the time being, he was more than happy at facing the Irishman at 170 pounds.

Chandler very happy to face Conor McGregor at 170

Chandler was confident of facing McGregor at 170 pounds, despite having fought his entire UFC career in the 155-pound lightweight division. The Missouri native went as far as to term a welterweight clash against ‘Mac’ as “perfect.” He felt it was easier to make 170 than 155 given he walked around at 190 pounds.

“I think 170 is perfect. 155 is not easy to make, so fighting at 170 is going to be kind of a perfect camp. Honestly, I weigh about 190. Getting down to 170 is kind of going to be easy compared to 155. So I think I’ll compete phenomenally there,” he said.

Chandler felt that he would be in even better, more explosive and powerful shape going into the bout given that he wouldn’t have to seriously dehydrate himself to make weight. “I’m still going to do the exact same camp, I’m still going to get my weight similar to where I would be at 155. I just won’t dehydrate myself at the end. So I want to stay big, I want to stay strong, I want to stay explosive. So I think 170 is going to be perfect,” Chandler added. Who do you think will win in their UFC 303 main event bout?