The world of mixed martial arts was left in utter disappointment after Conor McGregor was forced to pull out of his fight against Michael Chandler. McGregor was all set to return to the UFC following a three-year-long hiatus at UFC 303. However, a broken pinky toe became the bump that crashed the matchup. But now, Chandler has dropped the biggest hint at the fight against McGregor.

While the entire world was speculating about the possibility of Chandler fighting McGregor in the near future, many were left in doubt. However, an account on X teased the fighting community with a GIF of the Sphere and captioned, “Chandler vs. McGregor is going down Sept. 14th.” To everyone’s surprise, the former Bellator lightweight champion fueled up the speculations by typing, “Loading….”

As soon as Chandler dropped the hint, the combat sports fans took control of the comments section. One of the fans asked Chandler about his strategy against the Irish fighter. ‘Iron’ was pretty confident in his skills and declared that he would be the one to embarrass McGregor. He wrote, “Instill fear…let him pull out of the fight and embarrass himself, be known as the guy who retired McGregor without ever throwing a punch….”

But not all fans seemed to believe Chandler. Let’s see what other fans had to say about the post, shall we?

The MMA world doesn’t believe in Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor anymore

McGregor’s withdrawal just a couple of weeks before UFC 303 broke the netizens’ trust. They began doubting if he would indeed show up for the fight. One of the fans wrote, “Hopefully Conor doesn’t back out again. I feel like I keep hearing that he will fight and then he never does. Will believe it when I see it.” Another fan questioned, “Can we trust McGregor to be there this time?” 

Weighing in on Chandler’s game plan, some of the fans believed that it was a good one. Retiring McGregor without even throwing a single punch seemed like a possibility to some of them. One fan wrote, “Good plan and approach Mike I have upmost confidence in this occurring. Only problem is it will kinda be a double KO as you get retired along with him without ever throwing a punch by waiting 3+ years for a fight that will never happen..” Another fan claimed that it would become Chandler’s legacy. “Michael Chandler’s legacy: Guy that never fought Conor McGregor. Dang, even without fighting him you will still just known as a supporting character in his story.”

Most of the fans kept on asking ‘Iron’ if it was true. One fan wrote, “For real real this time Mikey? My heart has been broken too many times now.” The heat began emanating between McGregor and Chandler back when they were still shooting for TUF 31. The duo entered a scuffle where the Dubliner shoved Chandler. Without a doubt, fight fans began thinking that the fight would soon materialize. Multiple callouts later, the two were finally pitted against each other at UFC 303. But alas! All dreams were shattered. This caused the fans’ entropy to plummet. Even Chandler’s hint didn’t excite some fans. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t hold my breath. I’ll get excited when it actually happens.”

On the other hand, a few fans believed that the fight would never happen. This belief rises with ‘Iron’ wanting a fight with Islam Makhachev. Meanwhile, McGregor, being a fighter who can attract record-breaking PPV money, has received challenges from various other fighters. However, many others, including Dustin Poirier, branded McGregor as a nobody. Even UFC veterans like Chael Sonnen don’t seem to think that the fight will ever happen. One of the fans commented, “Sigh… I don’t think this will happen.” “This fight will never happen. I knew Conor would never fight again over a year ago. Mark it! Conor McGregor will never fight inside the octagon again,” read another comment.

Nevertheless, hope was still alive within the fighting community. The fight fans desperately prayed to the MMA Gods for the fight to actually happen and not get canceled like it did before. There were times when even Chandler was desperate for the fight. Whether the fight materializes or not, is something that only time has the power to tell. But the excitement that spread through the fighting world by just the idea of McGregor vs. Chandler shows how much the fans have anticipated the bout. All that needs to be done now, is to wait till the 14th of September for UFC Noche.

Do you think McGregor vs. Chandler will take place at the Sphere? Let us know in the comments down below.