“I’d love a patek rare belt or whatever he said sitting on my mantle to add to my collection,” Chandler said of the ‘McGregor Belt’.
Top UFC lightweight Michael Chandler is on board the idea of the promotion creating a ‘McGregor Belt.’
With McGregor’s trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier in July now confirmed, the Irishman asked the UFC last week to create a ‘McGregor Belt’ ahead of the bout. Chandler, who will face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 262, recently told Helen Yee he loves the idea.
“I love it, man,” Chandler said of the ‘McGregor Belt’. “It’s Conor being Conor. Listen, you can say what you want about Conor but the dude’s the biggest combat sports icon on the planet. Not just right now but he has been for a while and he will be for the foreseeable future.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen but I think it’s kind of a cool idea and I’d love the prospect of him beating Dustin Poirier and me putting my belt on the line, November or December, and him putting the Conor McGregor belt on the line in November or December.”
It wouldn’t mark the first time the UFC has created a speciality belt, with the promotion creating a ‘BMF’ title for Jorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz at UFC 244 in November 2019.
“I’d love a patek rare belt or whatever he said sitting on my mantle to add to my collection. I want to share the octagon with Conor McGregor sooner or later, eventually before I retire. So we’ll see if it happens after I beat Charles Oliveira.”
With Poirier avenging his loss 2014 loss to McGregor earlier this year at UFC 257, the score sits at one apiece ahead of their trilogy at 2021’s international fight week. Chandler believes McGregor can make the adjustments to get the win.
“I think Conor is notorious, for lack of a better word, for making really great adjustments, tweaks to his game plan, tweaks to his approach to the game,” Chandler said. “I think there’s not many more bright minds in the sport than Conor McGregor. I think he’s got some of the highest fight I.Q. in the lightweight division for sure and there’s just a couple little tweaks that he has to make to his game that he goes out there and beats Poirier.”