“I want to break that man’s will. I want to break his jaw.” This is what the usually respectful and polite Michael Chandler said about Conor McGregor last year. And there is good reason for ‘Iron’ to go after the bombastic, trash-talking Dubliner so much. The duo, of course, starred as opposing head coaches on season 31 of the UFC’s flagship reality show, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ two years ago, where things got pretty heated between the two. Not only did ‘Mac’ insult and belittle the former Bellator champ every chance he got but also got physical with ‘Iron.’ No wonder fans were all on board after a fight between the two was announced.

However, we didn’t get to see the ultimate showdown as McGregor pulled out due to an injured toe. Now, with the Irishman’s UFC future uncertain there is only one question on everyone’s mind. Is McGregor-Chandler ever going to happen? Well, ahead of his UFC 314 clash against Paddy Pimblett next month, Chandler had a pretty surprising answer.

After the fight fell through, there was only one question on everyone’s mind. Is McGregor-Chandler ever going to happen? “Notorious” has kept himself busy with his personal ventures after selling his “Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey” brand for $600M+ in 2021. He has part-ownership of Bareknuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) and made his acting debut in Road House last March, starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. From time to time, there have been reports and rumors linking McGregor with a return to UFC. Dana White dropped an update earlier this year that he hopes to see McGregor return in the fall. But Michael Chandler has kept moving forward and has a message for McGregor.

TNT Sports asked him whether the fight between him and the former dual champion will ever happen. ‘Iron’ responded, “Listen, I know you, TNT [Sports], everybody else, we all want to know the answer to that question. Listen, obviously, as you can see from my actions, fighting Charles [Oliveira] in November, now Paddy Pimblett in April, I am not waiting for Conor.”

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Chandler fought Charles Oliveria at UFC 309 in a losing effort after his fight with McGregor was called off. He is now scheduled to take on Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 next month as he continues to remain active. As far as a fight with the Irishman goes, Chandler is hopeful but he is not banking on it.

Still, Chandlers believes that whenever McGregor decides to step back in the octagon he will find him standing in his way.”Conor knows my name is signed to that contract when he comes back. If he wants to fight, obviously we want to do it. We have to finish The Ultimate Fighter 31. I don’t sit here and offer these things up. I always get asked about Conor, obviously, because I am connected to him and his road back to the UFC goes through me to finish The Ultimate Fighter 31,” Chandler said.

The two have a history on the Ultimate Fighter, where they almost came to blows. In Episode 6 of the show in July, McGregor’s SBG Ireland teammate Lee Hammond lost to former UFC fighter Kurt Holobaugh, trained by Chandler, in the quarterfinals via submission. However, the action spilled after the bout between the two coaches. Chandler criticized McGregor’s absence at various points throughout the season, saying, “Maybe if you showed up for them, maybe they’d show up here.” This set off McGregor, who berated Chandler with Bellator insults.

“I’ll show up and break your nose, you little fool ya. You little Bellator tick, you little tick,” he said. At this point, McGregor got close to the  American and shoved his face with both hands. Before things could escalate, Dana White had to step in and the two fighters were separated. Hence, the anticipation was at an all-time high when the fight was announced last year. But McGregor’s injury and subsequent delays have pushed the fight to the back burner. Still, Chandler hasn’t completely given up.

Not only does Chandler think that he will get to fight McGregor, but is positively salivating at the prospect of it. Before their planned fight was canceled, Dana White had predicted that UFC 303 would be the highest gate-grossing card in the promotion’s history. And Chandler, in the interview, couldn’t help but fantasize about just how big their fight could be if it ever comes to fruition.

“I think we’ll do crazy numbers. I think it’ll be an exciting fight. I’ve done nothing but grow my platform and grow my name inside the confines of competition in the UFC. It’s a fun fight. I think it would sell out anywhere across the world. We’ll do massive numbers and I think the fight does happen at some point. But I’m not holding my breath and I’m definitely not sitting on the sidelines as you can see by the decisions I’m making,” he added.

McGregor, for his part, has reiterated that he intends to return to UFC. After his comeback was delayed at the start of this year, McGregor has shared another update on the timeline of his return.

In January, he appeared on Logan Paul’s vlog and exchanged verbal jabs with him ahead of their now-canned boxing match. When Logan Paul joked that McGregor is struggling to show up to his regular job, the former UFC Champion dropped a hint on when we can see him in action.

“November, stay tuned,” he said. Will that return be against Chandler? Well, that’s not a guarantee. While Chandler seems convinced he will be the one to fight ‘Mac’ on his comeback, Dana White seems to be on a different frequency.

Dana White on if Conor McGregor will fight Michael Chandler on comeback

When asked about Conor McGregor’s much-awaited return to the UFC, Dana White had this to say in late 2024: “He hasn’t been fighting here in how long? If he does fight, it will be sometime next year.” As you will remember, this is exactly what the UFC CEO had said in 2023 and the year before that.

But even if the Irishman comes back, it is far from a sure thing that he will fight Chandler, as the former Bellator champ seems to believe. In an interview with Jim Rome last year, the UFC CEO spoke about ‘Mac’s next opponent. “When Conor comes back, which I see being sometime the later part of next year, we’ll see where everybody’s at and what’s going on and we’ll figure out who faces Conor,” the Las Vegas resident clarified.

However, many would feel Chandler should certainly be the one to fight ‘Mac’. It is tradition for fighters appearing as rival head coaches on ‘TUF’ to fight each other at the end of the season. That, in fact, is almost the entire point of the show, which the UFC uses to set up big fights. Not to mention the very real and palpable bad blood that exists between ‘Mac’ and ‘Iron’, whose personalities are also in sharp contrast to each other.

It would be a real shame if the UFC were to waste all of this existing storyline and match someone else against the Irishman on his comeback. What do you think about Michael Chandler’s thoughts on a possible Conor McGregor clash?