Michael Chandler has left his beef behind with Conor McGregor with a reflection on his success outside the MMA cage. The former Bellator lightweight champion tried his best to keep moving forward with a fight against ‘Mystic Mac’. However, the Irishman’s inactivity seemed to do nothing but enhance Chandler’s desperation. But that story ended when ‘Iron’ took up a fight against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309. However, the fighting community has often wondered about Chandler’s initial decision to wait for McGregor to recover his broken pinky toe. After all, Dana White was of the same opinion as well.

In an interview with journalist Kevin Iole, the 38-year-old fighter was left with no choice but to clear fight fans’ doubts regarding his decision to wait. The Californian star pointed out that the first 26 months of his UFC career were full of accolades as he moved through the cage at a high speed. But he had to pull the handbrake with McGregor. He said, “I had six training camps, five fights, every single fight guy in the top five, Fight of the Night, Fight of the Year, Debut of the Year, Knockout of the Year, crazy fast. Then all of a sudden, there was this lull, right? And what does a man do who constantly loves to move forward? But there is nothing that I can do to move forward. I can’t make Conor get into the Octagon. I can’t make the UFC book the fight.” 

Despite the temporary pause in his UFC career, Chandler’s other ventures boomed; his tequila, and peanut butter and jelly brands. On top of that, because of White’s decision to wait a while longer and let McGregor heal, Chandler got quite a bit of time to spend with his loved ones, which seemingly made up for the time he was away from them in training camps. And it was all possible just because he decided to wait for McGregor. ‘Iron’ continued, “Spent a lot of time with them. Fell back in love with just being a father, being a human, being a man. My businesses were thriving.” 

Along with his businesses, Chandler’s relationship with his wife and children also flourished, all because the UFC head honcho wanted to wait a bit for McGregor. This made him conclude, “They all [got] built. Everything grew exponentially. My fight career was on hold, right? But it really wasn’t!” 

Even though Michael Chandler admitted that he was pretty content with fighting the number one contender at the co-main event on November 16th, he couldn’t let his rivalry with Conor McGregor slide away. But ‘Iron Mike’ has waited long enough and proceeded to give the Irish fighter a reality check.

Michael Chandler had a reality check for Conor McGregor

During a conversation on ‘Bussin’ With The Boys’ podcast, Chandler struck a note that not many expected him to touch. He said, “The UFC needs nobody. The UFC will continue to build stars, continue to put on shows every single weekend [and] continue to keep pushing the envelope and growing whether they have Conor, me, or anybody else. There’s a freedom in knowing that you’re disposable. You don’t get too high on yourself because success is rented every day and that rent is due every single day.”

As soon as he realized this, ‘Iron’ took up the UFC 309 fight against Charles Oliveira. Needless to say, it was the next best thing that could have ever happened to the former Bellator champion. Nevertheless, the fight between Chandler and McGregor hasn’t completely gone out of the picture. 

The duo still have a rivalry to resolve, and The Ultimate Fighter season 31 needs a conclusion with a fight between the coaches. Dana White, in a separate interview, confirmed that ‘The Notorious’ would return sometime in 2025. Whether he faces Chandler in his return remains to be seen. 

What are your thoughts on Chandler’s decision to wait for McGregor? Was that the only way he could have spent some quality time with his family? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.