Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler are due to enter the octagon as the season-ending fight for The Ultimate Fighter 31. It seems the former is already eyeing a fight beyond that, however.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Wednesday, McGregor admitted that if he defeats Chandler in their future showdown, he’d already be eager to step into the spotlight for a title fight, via MMAFighting.com.
“Yeah, I’d like a welterweight title shot,” McGregor said. “So I would like that.”
The Irishman hasn’t fought since July of 2021, when he was defeated by Dustin Poirier in the third fight of their trilogy. His previous fight was also a defeat to Poirier, coming in January of that same year.
McGregor has since been away from the UFC, but returned as a coach for The Ultimate Fighter 31, opposite Chandler. The two are due to meet for a high-stakes fight at the end of the season, though a date, weight class and even location has not been set of yet.
The 34-year-old indicated he’s expecting to fight at 170 pounds.
When asked about the idea of potentially fighting the winner of the upcoming Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman fight, McGregor didn’t directly answer, though stated he’d be in attendance for their bout.
McGregor owns a career record of 22-6-0, including 19 knockouts.
