Michael Chandler: ‘I finish Conor within the first two rounds ... probably end his career’
Michael Chandler confirms that he is facing Conor McGregor at International Fight Week this year.
McGregor and Chandler have circled each other for the past 11 months, with the only thing standing in their way an actual fight date. To kick off the New Year, McGregor announced the fight will take place on June 29 at this year’s International Fight Week, and on Wednesday, Chandler confirmed that he’s heard the same – at least for the most part.
“I can confirm, that’s exactly what I’ve heard as well,” Chandler said on his YouTube channel. “Obviously, him announcing it makes it a little bit more true. You’ve got to remember, the UFC has not announced this yet. Also, if I take you back to Feb. of 2023, while he, the UFC, myself, we were all in talks about The Ultimate Fighter, Conor came out and put a long tweet out about The Ultimate Fighter and how he was going to do The Ultimate Fighter. So Conor, in typical Conor fashion — Conor being Conor — wanted to break the news himself about The Ultimate Fighter, then it was confirmed and the UFC put it out there.
“It looks like that scenario has happened again. June 29, International Fight Week, me versus Conor.”
The one thing Chandler is not sure about is the weight class. McGregor declared the fight will be contested at 185 pounds, delivering that unexpected news with a bit of a laugh. Immediately, fans speculated about why McGregor would want to fight at 185 pounds when the majority of his career has been at 145 and 155 pounds. Chandler has a theory.
“When it comes to 185, you’ve got to remember, there’s two reasons why it’s at 185,” Chandler explained. “No. 1, Conor wants to continue the narrative that he’s bigger than he actually is. You guys think he’s bigger because of lights, camera angles, and a great photographer. ... That’s No. 1.
“No. 2, you’ve got to remember, UFC 274, I kicked Tony Ferguson’s head clean off, I got on the microphone, and I said I want to up the stakes, I want to fight you at your biggest, your baddest, and your best. So naturally, Conor can’t say the fights at 155 [pounds], because he wants you guys to think he’s too big to make 155 — which isn’t true — and he also can’t say it’s at 170, because that means he’s not in control, since I originally called for the fight at 170. So naturally he says 185.
“Do I believe the fight is at 185? Heck, I’m game. The weight class does not matter. Two guys that weigh the same. Two guys that weigh the same...ish. Conor and I are within three to five pounds of each other. I spent five weeks with him in Las Vegas, saw him almost every day – you guys saw us standing next to each other, the size of us is very similar. So it doesn’t matter whether we’re cutting 25 pounds down to 155, or 15 pounds down to 170, we’re the same weight. So does the weight really matter? Doesn’t matter to me. This is the fight that I want. It’s the fight I agreed to.
“I’m not worried where the weight is, I’m not worried about all the shenanigans outside of the training and the nutrition. ... I can figure out whatever weight I need to go to. 185 sounds great to me, cutting very minimal weight, doing training camp without having to cut weight, sounds great to me. 170 would be easy, as well. So I’m excited that the plane is finally landing, and it’s going to land in Las Vegas, June 29, International Fight Week, which is normally the biggest card of the year.”
One of the biggest questions about the weight of the fight is, how will a win affect either fighter’s rankings? Though both are primarily lightweights, would a win over McGregor – coming off a two-year layoff – at 185 pounds put Chandler back into the 155-pound title conversation?
For his part, Chandler isn’t concerned with that. He just wants to finally settle his business with McGregor and worry about everything else later.
“It’s going to be a big card, it’s going to be fun, and I finish Conor within the first two rounds and after that, probably end his career,” Chandler said. “There’s just so much more than what people think about on the surface level. I want battlegrounds of epic proportions, I want to stand in the cage with that man, I want to break that man’s will, I want to break his jaw, I want to separate him from consciousness, completely flatline him inside the octagon, and then we say farewell to the sport’s biggest star. Then we can go about our merry way.”
Below is Chandler’s full interview.