Take a look at the first public faceoff photos between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, taken during their coaching stints on The Ultimate Fighter.
There’s still no date for the highly anticipated Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight, but the two are clearly ready to scrap. New photos shared by McGregor on social media show the two facing off on the set of The Ultimate Fighter as UFC president Dana White watches intently in the background.
McGregor and Chandler have been busy coaching the 31st season of the reality show over the past several weeks. That shoot ended last Monday, freeing “The Notorious” up to travel across the U.S. on a promotional tour for his various projects: a new Netflix series, the Road House remake, and his return to fighting after over a year and a half away from the sport.
He hasn’t forgotten about Chandler, though. Two pictures he shared from the UFC Apex showed the two contenders staring intently at each other, while another two showed them laughing. Behind the smiles there was still an intensity, though. According to White, the two may have gotten physical with each other while filming TUF after McGregor jumped into the cage following a fight, prompting a brawl.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 19, 2023
The Ultimate Fighter season 31 is set to debut on ESPN and ESPN+ on May 30th and run for twelve weeks, wrapping up sometime around late August. Preliminary reports had McGregor and Chandler fighting in September, and there hasn’t been any news to counter that schedule — other than McGregor’s continued absence from the USADA drug testing pool.
According to USADA regulations, fighters must spend six months being tested before being allowed to compete barring an exemption being granted by the UFC. McGregor hasn’t been tested since breaking his leg during a fight with Dustin Poirier back in July 2021. September is six months from March, so every day that goes by this month is another day in September that McGregor is ineligible to fight.
USADA has made it clear that they believe McGregor doesn’t quality for an exemption to the six month rules. Dana White has dodged the question when asked by the press, saying he has nothing to do with USADA. That job falls to Jeff Novitzky, the UFC’s senior VP of Athlete Health & Performance. Ask him, White suggested at the UFC 286 press conference.
Thus far Novitzky has been unavailable for comment.