BOSTON – Michael Chandler hasn’t lost hope, but will move on from Conor McGregor if they don’t fight at some point.
Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) are meant to fight after coaching Season 31 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.” “The Notorious” has yet to re-enter the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool which has delayed his return.
McGregor casted doubt on a December return at UFC 296, as USADA reiterated that he must not only re-enter the testing pool, but submit at least two clean drug tests over the course of a six-month period before he’s cleared to compete.
“I can fight him tomorrow. I’m ready to fight tomorrow,” Chandler told reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage. “But I’m also not hurting. … I think every single day, everything changes with time and circumstance. Where we are, where we’ll be tonight after the fights, where we’ll be next week after the next fights, where we’ll be after the title fight in October – things change all the time. I haven’t really thought about a deadline. I’ve got a loose deadline in my head that I’m not going to share with you, but we’ll flirt with that whenever we figure it out.”
Chandler is a prize fighter, but explains that he’s financially set and isn’t under pressure to compete right away.
“Luckily for me, I’ve made a habit out of getting prizes everyday,” Chandler said. “I’ve done a very good job of setting myself up with a very large amount of financial literacy, some great investments, and a lot of relationship capital. I’m not a guy who needs to fight tomorrow because I need to go pay my bills or buy a Maserati to flex. I’m a guy who has built wealth over the last decade and a half through smart financial decisions and having great people around me.
“I’m in a good position. It’s a constant talking between my management and the UFC, UFC talking to Conor and his team I’m sure – so we’re figuring this thing out. We’re treading lightly, and the information comes in slower than I want it to, more slower than you guys want it to, but it’s the way it’s happening, and it’s going to be Chandler vs. McGregor and it’s going to be fun.”
USADA has handed out exemptions before, and Chandler doesn’t mind if McGregor was given one, too.
“That whole situation is very interesting to me,” Chandler said. “I’ve got a lot of different thoughts on it. Ultimately, I signed with the organization September of 2020 and I could have fought October of 2020. So this whole, he retired so he’s got to take six months to come back – I mean, are we splitting hairs here? What are we talking about?
“To me, as long as a man is in the USADA testing pool for months on end and he has the ability to be tested every single day or multiple times a day for a certain period of time … It’s a sport. That, to me, is a very interesting gray area and ultimately, I’m out here and I can fight Conor with one day in the USADA testing pool or a year in the USADA testing pool. It’s not going to make a difference.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
