‘It’s a stain on his legacy’… Michael Chandler gets candid on whether Conor McGregor will ever make his UFC return

Popular American lightweight Michael Chandler returns to the octagon this weekend in the co-main event of UFC 309; five months after he was originally set to face Conor McGregor in the Irishman’s long-awaited return fight.

Whilst that ‘Notorious’ showdown failed to materialize due to injury, Michael Chandler still believes that he will be the former double champion’s return opponent; otherwise, he risks tainting his UFC legacy forever.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesMichael Chandler believes Conor McGregor needs to fight him in UFC returnSpeaking via the MainEvent YouTube channel, Michael Chandler admitted that he’s been forced to forget about Conor McGregor “for the time being” as he stares down a highly anticipated rematch with Charles Oliveira this weekend.

Yet despite having his sights firmly set on ‘do Bronx’ and the co-main event of UFC 309, Chandler still holds out hope that he’ll be the one to welcome McGregor back to the octagon.

“If Conor comes back, his road comes back through Nashville, Tennessee and Michael Chandler – we’ve got to finish The Ultimate Fighter 31… Say what you want about Conor, he is nothing without the UFC and the sport of MMA and I think he knows that.

“I think he’s more romantic and respectful of the sport than people give him credit for, so I think he wants to finish the contract that we had signed, I think he wants to finish that word that he gave to show up on June 29th.”

McGregor famously pulled out of his UFC 303 main event fight against Chandler with a broken toe; a few months later, he told Bloody Elbow that he could ditch ‘Iron’ in favor of a matchup against Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker.

Unsurprisingly, Chandler isn’t a fan of McGregor teasing anyone other than him for his UFC return, even going as far as to suggest that “I think it’s a stain on his legacy if he doesn’t come back and fight me because of pulling out of that [first] fight.

“He’s never once pulled out of a fight ever, and he’s fought injured numerous times so I wish him well in his recovery and getting his house in order, so that we can finish TUF 31… 170lbs, 155lbs, or 185lbs – I don’t care what it is, it’s just a fight that I want – I want the biggest names, the brightest lights, the biggest platforms and I’ve always said that.”

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