Conor McGregor has been told he will stain his legacy if he doesn't step into the octagon to face Michael Chandler.
The Notorious has not fought in almost two years since suffering a horror leg break in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier.
McGregor is expected to face Michael Chandler later this year after the conclusion of the new Ultimate Fighter series, which airs on May 30, but the former two-weight champion has still yet to re-enter the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing pool.
However, Chandler is hopeful that McGregor will be true to his word and fight the American later in the year.
“I think he’s coming back,” Chandler told ESPN. “It sure would be a huge stain on his legacy, leading everybody down a road, making people think that he’s coming back, and then kind of chickening out at the very end and only doing it for the publicity. That, to me, screams insecurity, and he’s trying to stay relevant rather than seeing through your commitment.
“I could be very wrong about it, and if I am, I would be surprised and, quite frankly, disappointed, but also, I’m not going to sit here blowing up my manager, blowing up Dana (White) and Hunter (Campbell), just calling them all the time, ‘Hey, when are we getting something done?'”
USADA insist that someone that previously withdrew from the testing programme must return to it for six months before being allowed to fight.
But McGregor claims he will be able to return to the octagon after returning two clean tests, something which USADA has since said is not the case.
However, Chandler would be happy enough to fight McGregor if he returned two clean tests.
He added: “I could see it very well being just two clean tests. I have no problem with it being two clean tests. I could care less. If you do two clean tests, sounds to me like you’re clean. At this point, who am I to say what the stipulations are? I’m ready for him to be cleared or at least get that answer. At this point, we don’t have an answer.”
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