Michael Chandler: I’m confident the Conor McGregor fight will happen

– but I am running my own race and looking at other options

Speaking with Lucky Block, Michael Chandler still remains optimistic about his dream fight with the Irish superstar happening, but also eyes the likes of Former UFC featherweight Champ Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Arman Tsarukyan.

What’s your instinct on the Conor fight happening?

MC: I am an optimist by default, so I do believe the Conor fight will happen. Right now we are in a period where things are being talked about. What date? Is it Conor? Is it pivoting to a different fight? Is it making the best decision for me and my family? I love the idea that Conor and I did The Ultimate Fighter, we had a training camp, we signed on the dotted line. But as much as I respect Conor my legacy is not hinged upon this fight. I am running my own race, and I’m continuing to move forward. I am at the point now where we are looking at all of the options and not just fighting Conor.

Things move fast and the phone could ring at any time. I don’t want to make it sound like I’m not focused on fighting Conor, but right now when no contract is signed, I’m excited to fight. I’m training every day, and I’m in the best shape that I have been in a very long time, and I’m ready to go out there whether it’s Conor or someone else. There’s always going to be life after Conor if this fight never comes to fruition.

What’s the latest from Dana?

MC: The sentiment from Dana doesn’t sound as bleak as a lot of people would think. It doesn’t sound as bleak as a lot of people would think given Conor’s antics with the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vest and the drinking Forged Irish Stout at Bare Knuckle FC, but we’ll see. Either way, I’ve always felt that if the Conor fight didn’t happen I’m going to be just fine, and I will put butts in seats, and I will sell pay per views, and I will entertain the entire world when I step inside the octagon.

How long will you wait for Conor McGregor?

MC: I don’t really ever put dates on how long I’ll wait but the sport of mixed martial arts moves very, very fast. I’ve got a white board up here in my house with all the matchups and all the different things going on in the lightweight division. The lightweight division is the most exciting, electrifying division in the sport of mixed martial arts, so I am blessed to be a part of it.

What do you make of Conor’s behaviour on social media?

MC: Conor lives his life the way that he wants to live his life, Conor is promoting two different liquor brands, so that’s tough, he needs to be seen with them. Obviously, if you look at it just from a social media standpoint, people think, man, he is definitely not dedicated. But if you guys expect him to be in a training camp right now as we speak, when there is no fight booked, then it’s unrealistic because every single fighter takes their hiatuses in different ways, whether it be drinking, whether it be going out, whether it be eating food that they want to indulge in, whether it’s staying out late. But yeah, there’s some concerning things that people have looked at and then called into question whether he’s coming back. I completely get that. I have a hunch that he is. I think Conor needs the UFC. I think the UFC wants Conor to come back. I think he needs it for his own mental state. He loves it. Fighting is his first passion, his main passion. There’s no way he would ever even scratch the surface of what he has accomplished in his life without the platform of the UFC. If you look at the last training camp, he looked sharp, he looked like he was ready. He looked like he was sparring hard. He looked like he was coming to try to take my head off.

Also deleted tweets have always been part of his brand. It’s always a part of his brand. He’s like, I’m gonna tweet this. I’m gonna let it sit there for 20 min. I’m gonna let the entire world screenshot record it, have everybody retweet it and talk about it. And then I’m gonna delete it just because he’s an egomaniac.

Who excites you the most if it’s not Conor?

MC: Max is one of the top ones on that list when it comes to who I would love to share the octagon with. Justin Gaethje, fight of the year 2021, that’s another. Me and Max would absolutely make some bloody, violent magic inside of an octagon. It could have possibly happened at the Sphere, there were a bunch of different options being thrown out there but rightfully Max wanted to go get that featherweight title. Me and Max makes a lot of sense, that’s the one that excites me the most. And I think that’s something that will get the juices flowing of the fans as well.

Who is the most realistic option if it’s not Conor?

MC: The most realistic option for me if you look at the landscape and you consider everything is Charles Oliveria. I love the rematch with Charles. I think it’s a great fight to get the fans pumped up. I almost had him finished in the first round and then I made a glaring mistake in the second round that I would never, ever make again. It was almost a self fulfilling prophecy that I was working on in camp that turned out to be my demise. Me and Charles for the number one contender spot. I beat Charles, knock him out in the first round, then all of a sudden I’m sitting at the number one contender spot and I get to choose whether I fight Islam, or do I fight Conor next? And why not both.

Anyone else on your shortlist?

MC: Obviously you got rematches with Dustin Poirier, Islam is up in the air right now with a possible hand injury, so there’s that possible interim title shot against Arman Tsuraykyan. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with that title fight. It sounds like it’s not going to happen in October anymore, so that could be later in this year in December, or there might need to be an interim title happening so obviously I would be open to that. I by no means think I deserve that. Everybody will misconstrue it and say, ‘oh, man, he wants a title shot’. I’m just saying it’s a fun fight.

If it is Conor, does December make the most sense?

MC: December’s got me and Conor written all over it. That’s when we should fight. It’s enough time for him to have healed up and get back into a training camp. December makes a lot of sense. People love the violence that I bring to the Octagon and obviously Conor Mcgregor is the biggest name in combat sports, so this fight makes a ton of sense. It’s a great matchup. There’s a little bit of gamesmanship slash bad blood, but it’s overall respectful, and if Conor and I do fight, I will dispatch him, and finally put an exclamation mark on this big saga that is Chandler versus Connor.But we are fighting in the UFC, the biggest combat sports organisation in the world by far, and they have a ton of moving parts. I definitely want to fight by the end of the year, that would be ideal. That’s always the hope. But, man, there’s a lot of options out there.

Would you like Donald Trump to attend if it comes off?

MC: I would love to fight Conor with Donald Trump, our 45th and soon to be 47th president, cage side. That would be awesome. Obviously, he and I have hung out a couple of times and had a few conversations, so it would be awesome to have him at the fight. I think it would be great.

The last time I spoke to Donald Trump the fight had not been announced yet, so he was just saying, ‘man, you deserve this fight. It’s a fight that everyone wants to see. It’s a fight that the Trump team wants to see’, so that was the last thing that he said about it, and obviously since then the fight had got booked, contract signed, and then it changed.

Conor tweets are absolutely not going to touch Donald Trump’s candidacy and presidency at all. But it shows you the hatred between Conor and Khabib is still deep. It’s real. I can’t imagine living like that. Conor and I had a nice little back and forth. I said, ‘if you had half the balls Donald Trump did you would have shown up on June 29th’ because Donald Trump’s got some balls. He says what is on his mind, and obviously I have shown my support for Donald Trump, and I believe he will win in November, and the world will be a better place because of it.

Is Paddy Pimblett on your radar?

MC: I love Paddy. It was great to see him win that last one by finish, so he’s gonna be climbing the rankings. He’s gonna be climbing and maybe he’s going to get a top ten opponent next, so yeah, I wish him the best. I hope he keeps his weight under control a little bit more. He’s young, when we’re young we kind of balloon up more than we do when you’re more of a mature man, not that he’s not mature, but you just get a little bit older and start to realise, okay, the toll that is taking on your body, and how hard it is to get back down to that weight.

Paddy’s not on my radar right now. Me sitting inside the top six, and him at Number 15. Not right now, but obviously, like I said, he’s there. There’s been these young guys coming in, the newer guys or younger guys coming in and shuffling into that top 15 and top 10. Look at Arman, a name that nobody knew. And now, all of a sudden, he’s fighting for the title a couple of years later. I’m interested to see who they match Paddy up with next. But I never say never. It will definitely be a fan friendly fight.

How have you remained so positive over the past year?

MC: It feels like I’ve won over the last year and a half, honestly, even with having no wins inside of the octagon. I’ve done The Ultimate Fighter and all of these different appearances, the investments that I have made, the companies that I am building, it’s given me an opportunity to realize that the fight is in front of me. It’s going to happen at some point. And it has allowed me to focus on other things; on my family, i’ve been spending a lot of time with my wife and sons, spending time on my businesses, serving them and growing the numbers there. Really getting a glimpse of what my post fight career might look like right.

It almost ticks the haters off that I’ve been able to enjoy this time and that I’ve been able to have an interview like this where I’m not mother-effing Conor, and making all these excuses and pointing the finger at other people. I’m living an absolute dream. I am the most blessed man on the planet. I’ve got everything that money can’t buy. I’ve got everything that money cannot buy and I’ve got some money as well, so it’s a good place to be in.

I’m gonna keep on being positive. I’m gonna keep on smiling through it and the haters, it’s just gonna make the haters even worse. It’s gonna dig that dagger and turn that dagger just a little bit every single time they see me do an interview where I’m enjoying my life, and I know that I have options. I got options on that whiteboard right now, and this is not the last that you’ve seen of Michael Chandler in the Octagon whether it’s Conor or not. It’s always going to work out. And it’s going to work out for the best for me and my career. And it’s going to be a blast.

Has the UFC compensated you for waiting for the Conor fight?

MC: Let’s just say the UFC loves me and I love the UFC. Everything is good. It comes down to what type of person you are and how easy are you to deal with – what kind of pain in their side are you and are you a man of your word? Do you say what you’re gonna do when you sign your name to a dotted line on a contract and do you fulfil said Contract, and go above and beyond? Or are you or the other type of person. The UFC loves me and I love them.

What are you visualising happening if you eventually meet Conor

MC: I think my pressure is just too much for Conor. I think I will put him on the back foot immediately, and start putting pressure on him, and he will fight hard for the first half of a round. I do believe that. But at some point the tides will start to change, and he will start going down as I continue to gain speed and continue to gain momentum. And I think I put him away. It used to be the second round but at this point, with everything that has been built up, I think I will finish him in the first round.

Jake Paul defeated two of your Missouri college teammates who you consider big brothers, Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren, do you want revenge?

It was tough to see them both lose, I was pumped to see both of them. But Jake Paul knew exactly who he was picking for these fights. He knows exactly the age, the size, the skill level. It has been said by many people that there’s only one more Mizzou Tiger that Jake Paul needs to get through, and obviously I’m the smallest one out of them all, so I’m sure he would love to fight a guy who outweighs by 30 pounds.

I’ve got nothing against Jake Paul. I think what he’s done has been great. Obviously him and him and Dana have their little tiff but I think Jake Paul’s just doing Jake Paul. He loves to be the problem child. He loves to promote. And he loves what he is doing. He is living a dream, but I would never rule it out, so to speak. But, man, I am fully focused on winning UFC Gold. Whether that’s running through Conor or that is pivoting and finding somebody else to get to that gold. So right now I’m a UFC Fighter, and I very much enjoy it, because it is the most legitimate fighting organisation and style of fighting in the world today.

What do you think about Mike Tyson and Jake Paul?

MC: Jake Paul fought Mike Perry who he outweighed by 20 pounds or so, and had four inches of height on. And now it’s Mike Tyson, who is 30 years older. Mike Tyson’s about 60 and Jake’s about 30. I love Mike Tyson, nobody wants to see Mike Tyson get knocked out. But everybody wants to see Mike Tyson catch Jake Paul and knock him out. So I mean, you’re gonna watch it. I’m gonna watch it. It’s great for a fun – not taking boxing seriously if you will – fight night and I’ll probably watch it.

Holloway or Topuria?

MC: I’ve got Max beating Topuria because you never bet against Max ever, unless I were to fight him. I hope Max overwhelms him and keeps that distance and keeps throwing punches in bunches and lands more punches. That’s the way that I would see it go. But, man, Topuria is the real deal. If Max did go ahead and lose then me and Max could fight for the BMF belt. Who wouldn’t want to see just sheer violence? Me and Max fighting for the BMF title.

Du Plessis or Adesanya?

MC: I’ve trained with Driccus a couple of times a little bit down in Florida and I’m also friends with Izzy. That’s a tough one for me stylistically. If DDP can get those takedowns and hold Izzy down which he’s done before he can have some success. But does he get held down for five rounds? I don’t think that happens, so obviously Izzy needs to stay outside and throw those big shots. I think Izzy’s mind and fight IQ is higher than that of DDPs, not that DDP has a small one. I just think Izzy’s is very, very high, and it’s why he’s had a tendency to not be a huge fan favourite stylistically, but the guy goes out there and wins so It’ll be very interesting, but I think Izzy has the slight advantage in that fight.