Michael Chandler’s bid for a “red panty night” against Conor McGregor ended in infamy and so he took on Charles Oliveira to get closer to the 155lbs title. However, it seems he doesn’t want to lose that fabled payday just yet which led to him calling out the Dubliner yet again after his unsuccessful outing against the Brazilian. But there’s a real chance that the UFC’s initial plans for McGregor’s comeback may get scrapped after what fellow lightweight star Dan Hooker had to say about Chandler’s comments during his recent Octagon interview.

Conor McGregor’s superstar status can help bring attention to any rival he gets paired up with. With the engagement comes a hefty payout as well. It’s like “easy money” as most UFC fighters say. But for that to happen, Dan Hooker believes McGregor will need something in return, and the fact that after two years, Michael Chandler only returned to suffer a unanimous decision loss doesn’t help ‘Iron’ in securing a fight against the Irishman.

“There’s not a person in the division that would turn down a fight with Conor McGregor. There’s not a person in the UFC who would turn down a fight with Conor McGregor. But what does Conor get out of it? Especially now, with Chandler off the back of a loss. [Chandler’s] not ranked near kind of the top 5 and that,” Dan Hooker stated on ‘Submission Radio‘.

‘The Hangman’ also claims that Conor McGregor can opt to do what he wants and launch himself ahead of every other lightweight contender to fight for the title. Islam Makhachev had previously stated that he’d love to take on the former double champion, so what’s stopping ‘Mystic Mac’?

“There’s just not a lot to gain from it. Like, what does he [McGregor] get out of beating him? Mate, Conor could get a title fight if he came back, and he wanted to. You know what I mean? Like, no one would turn the fight down,” Dan Hooker added. In addition to that, UFC CEO Dana White also didn’t seem to have a positive response when asked about the Chandler-McGregor fight. Let’s check what he had to say.

Michael Chandler’s status remains unclear after Dana White’s recent comments about Conor McGregor

So when is Conor McGregor actually making his way back inside the Octagon? Well, Dana White, who had earlier mentioned having plans to make the former double champion return in the first half of 2025, has now claimed that the Irishman’s return could take as long as late 2025. Moreover, the matchmakers seem to have had a change of heart about his comeback opponent, because the UFC CEO did not mention anything about Chandler while addressing ‘The Notorious’.

“There is no doubt Conor wants to fight. He hits me up all the time,” asserted Dana White during the UFC 309 post-fight presser. “Conor’s going to come back [in] late 2025. There’s a lot of time before we figure out who’s going to fight Conor.” Well, it seems like Chandler is losing all his grip on that ‘red panty night’ pay, as he’s nearing the end of his career at 38 years old.

Even if the fight against McGregor does not come to fruition, Michael Chandler seemingly has a Plan B. That agenda involves fighting for the BMF title against Max Holloway who had confirmed his permanent arrival at 155lbs after his unsuccessful bid against Ilia Topuria at UFC 308. But could this plan take some concrete shape? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.