Michael Chandler recently commented on his cancelled fight with Conor McGregor.
After months of anticipation, Chandler was finally scheduled to face McGregor on June 29 at UFC 303. However, Dana White confirmed last week that the fight was off after McGregor was pulled out with an injury. Chandler addressed the situation for the first time since the announcement in a social media video.
“Monday morning, on the road, collecting myself, thinking about the past few days… it all went down the drain at the last moment,” Chandler said. “Thursday morning, I’d just finished my final sparring session. Of course I’d heard the rumors since Monday, but I got a phone call an hour after my final sparring session… at that moment I was the happiest, healthiest, hardest to kill, most dangerous man I’d ever been in my life, and then 30 minutes later I got a phone call telling me it was all for nothing. Was it really like that?”
Chandler had been waiting for a bout with McGregor for a year and a half, ever since appearing as a rival coach on season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” It emerged earlier this month that their plans for UFC 303 were in jeopardy when a press conference in Dublin was cancelled 12 hours beforehand. White confirmed those fears last week when he announced the fight was off.
There was initial speculation about a rescheduled date for the bout, but White recently said he wouldn’t discuss McGregor’s return until “Notorious” was healthy and fighting-ready. Now at a crossroads in his career, Chandler plans to keep working hard rather than worry about the outcome.
“So what do we do now? There’s a little uncertainty in life,” Chandler said. “When is this fight going to happen? When will it be rebooked? What’s the venue? How bad is the injury? Reports are coming out that it’s not too bad and that it needs to be postponed a little bit. Still, there are no guarantees. But it’s in those times of no guarantees that I thrive. I’m just a walk-on kid from High Ridge, Missouri, but I’m staying on a positive trajectory no matter who the opponent is, no matter what the situation is, no matter what the circumstances are. It’s not my will to bring about the results. It’s my responsibility to put in the effort. I’m going to let the effort speak. I’m going to put in the effort. And I’m going to work until we’re undeniable.”
McGregor hasn’t fought in three years, while Chandler has also been out of action since his submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 in November 2022. Now that the fight has been canceled, Chandler doesn’t want anyone’s sympathy.
“Don’t ever insult me with any pity,” he said. “Don’t ever insult me with any pity. Be encouraged by my situation. Be encouraged by my steadfast spirit to keep moving forward, connecting my dreams to shooting stars. If you’ve been on this journey with me for a long time, you know how I operate. You know my mindset, you know where my mental state is. And my mental state is not where I’m at. I’m encouraged by this challenge, this challenge is not over yet, and this challenge will be part of my testimony.”
