Conor McGregor thinks Michael Chandler should be cut after coming up short at UFC 309. Okay, not really, but we all knew the Irish megastar would eventually react to Chandler’s latest loss one way or another.
After waiting the better part of two years for a fight with McGregor that never came to fruition, the former Bellator champion returned to the Octagon on Saturday night for a rematch with former lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira. Chandler delivered another exciting showing that had fight fans on their feet — particularly in the fifth and final round — but it wasn’t enough to land in the win column.
‘Do Bronx’ leaned on his BJJ skills to take an early lead against ‘Iron’ and never look back, setting himself up for a potential rematch with reigning lightweight king Islam Makhachev — once the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ takes care of a bit of business with Arman Tsarukyan.
McGregor, who was long-tied to a fight with Chandler until ‘Iron’ ultimately decided to move on, reacted to his former TUF foe’s loss on social media.
“Cut Michael Chandler! Just kidding, good fight,” McGregor wrote in a since-deleted post on X. “Mad little fellow is Michael. I like ’em!”
Dana White assures conor mcGregor that ‘Iron’ isn’t going anywhere
Even if McGregor was sincere in his initial statement, it sounds like Dana White has no intention of letting Chandler go.
“He’s like an Arturo Gatti,” White said during the UFC 309 post-fight press conference. “He’s one of those — win, lose, or draw, you’re never bummed out at the end of a Michael Chandler fight. He’s always exciting, he’s always fun. In the last round of that fight, he kept getting taken down.
“He got on his back. So when he got on his back at the end, he just stood up and started slamming him…The kid always tries to win. He always comes to fight, and Michael Chandler’s always going to have a home here. Until he decides to retire, Michael Chandler isn’t going anywhere” (h/t MMA Mania).
On paper, Chandler’s record isn’t exactly anything to write home about. He’s 2-4 with losses against the likes of Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Charles Oliveira. But those who watched those fights know the value that ‘Iron’ brings to any UFC card he’s connected to.
