Welcome to a brand new edition of the daily roundup news, where we bring to you the hottest and most noteworthy headlines from the last 24 hours in our favorite sport, MMA. To kick this list off, we’ll look at UFC lightweight star Michael Chandler‘s response to Conor McGregor‘s recent callout. And guess what? He was pretty critical about the Irishman’s intentions.

Thereafter, we’ll shift our attention to a lightweight contender who’s seemingly convinced that Islam Makhachev will have to fight Ilia Topuria next. Finally, we’ll sum up this roundup edition with Carlos Prates, who sent a warning to Ian Garry ahead of their fight in Kansas City.

Michael Chandler’s response to Conor McGregor

After hinting that he’s going to run for Ireland’s presidency and claiming that he’s “happy” with what he’s achieved in the UFC, seemingly hinting at retirement, Conor McGregor stirred the pot once again. The Irishman called out Michael Chandler once again, claiming to have “unfinished business.” Now, ‘Iron’ Mike has already wasted two long years in the hopes of fighting McGregor, so maybe he’s done chasing the UFC’s golden goose. But that couldn’t be far from the truth.

Michael Chandler is still all in on fighting Conor McGregor, as he responded to his callout, as he said, “It has to happen,” on his Instagram stories. But then again, the former 3-time Bellator champion wasn’t willing to fall into McGregor’s bluff and warned him that his word was losing value. “Your word is your bond. If your word is no good, then eventually you are no good,” Chandler added.

For many people, betting on Conor McGregor to return is a fool’s errand, but nobody can deny the financial prospects of fighting him, certainly not Michael Chandler. But while we wait to see how that unfolds, let’s take a look at the next big story.

A lightweight contender believes Islam Makhachev will fight Ilia Topuria

Did Ilia Topuria make a mistake vacating his featherweight title? Well, that’s been one of the major talking points regarding his move to the lightweight division, as he claims that he was promised a title fight against Islam Makhachev. But things haven’t worked out quite the way he hoped for, given that Islam Makhachev is hesitant to hand him a title shot since he hasn’t proved himself in the 155 lbs category. Meanwhile, top 10 contender Renato Moicano believes everything will work out in Topuria’s favor and even backed the former featherweight champion.

“I hope it’s Ilia Topuria [fighting Islam Makhachev next],” Renato Moicano told MMA Junkie. “Because, motherf—– he’s good. We just saw what Volkanovski did [at UFC 317]… A really tough guy to do… and motherf—– Topuria just knocked him out. So, I want to see Topuria fighting for the belt.” 

So, how does Dana White see this going? After all, Ilia Topuria is one of the biggest stars in the promotion right now, who even got a street named after him in Spain. It remains to be seen if ‘La Leyenda’ gets what he wants, but before that, here’s the last story of this roundup edition.

Carlos Prates promises Ian Garry to finish him early

Despite the boos and the jeers he often encounters from the UFC fan base, Ian Garry dismissed all doubts about his credibility as a top contender when he took Shavkat Rakhmonov to the limit. Despite suffering his first professional loss at UFC 310, he delivered arguably the best performance in his career so far and went out of the arena with a moral victory. But the rising welterweight contender, Carlos Prates, is not even worried one bit about ‘The Future’ because he seems to be fixated on fulfilling his mother’s request.

It seems like Carlos Prates’ mother has taken great interest in her son’s upcoming fight at UFC Kansas City. She has always been his rock, as he revealed during a recent ESPN mini-documentary video. Apparently, Prates’s mother claimed that she wants to see ‘The Nightmare’ take Ian Garry out fairly quickly and leave it to the judges. “Don’t give the opponent a chance to play too much. Do you understand? And finish the war quickly. The way mommy likes it, with a perfect finishing touch,” the UFC star’s mother stated in the video.

Well, this seems to be Ian Garry vs Carlos Prates and his mother. But we’ll find out how things turn out for both fighters this weekend in Kansas City. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.