Michael Chandler doubts Conor McGregor and Dan Hooker will end up fighting.
Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) was scheduled to welcome McGregor back to the octagon at UFC 303 in June, but the bout was scrapped after McGregor withdrew because of a broken pinky toe. Chandler decided to move on and is scheduled to rematch Charles Oliveira in the UFC 309 co-main event Nov. 16 in New York.
That leaves McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) without an opponent, but “The Notorious” recently declared that his return will now be against Dan Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC) in February after the pair verbally agreed to fight during the BKFC Marbella event this past Saturday.
Chandler, however, isn’t buying it.
“Conor’s a very flavor-of-the-week kind of guy,” Chandler said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “He just had a conversation with Dan Hooker. Everybody knows Dan Hooker’s an awesome dude. You can sit there and have a beer with him, a Forged Irish Stout, in the middle of a squared ring and be like, ‘Hey, man. I like you, you like me, we can make some magic, let’s fight each other.’
“I looked no further than that, honestly. Dan Hooker’s in the top five now. And if anything, it strengthens my case that I deserve to be in that top five, top six anyway because I have a win over him in my debut. So, I’m happy for Dan Hooker.”
Chandler still has plans of fighting McGregor and thinks the UFC prefers this matchup for McGregor’s comeback.
“I don’t think the UFC’s going to be very keen on McGregor vs. Hooker compared to McGregor vs. Chandler since we need to make this fight happen,” Chandler said. “I’m not really that worried about it.
“It’s been up in the air for the better part of two years. So, I’m not going to spend any time or energy or effort worrying about it. The good thing is I have a great job to do in front of me, and that’s Nov. 16 in Charles Olivera.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
