UFC lightweight Michael Chandler admitted that he was “sad” and “confused” to not be fighting Conor McGregor at UFC Freedom 250.
Despite coaching against McGregor on “The Ultimate Fighter” season 31 in 2023, and then having a fight booked against McGregor at UFC 303 in June 2024, Chandler has still not stepped into the Octagon with McGregor yet.
Next weekend at UFC Freedom 250, Chandler fights Mauricio Ruffy in what should be an exciting lightweight bout. But with McGregor coming back next month to fight Max Holloway at UFC 329, Chandler admits he was extremely disappointed when he found out that he wasn’t the one who was getting the chance to fight McGregor.
Michael Chandler Details Emotions Over Not Getting Conor McGregor Fight
Speaking to Megan Olivi of Paramount+ ahead of UFC Freedom 250, Chandler detailed the emotions he went through when the UFC told him he was not fighting McGregor and would instead be facing Ruffy.
“So, when Dana kind of announced, ‘Hey, it’s not going to be Conor and Chandler,’ obviously I was a little bit deflated because it seemed like it made sense. It seemed like we were trending in that direction. But you can’t control what happens to you. You can only control how you respond,” Chandler said.
“I’m not saying I responded perfectly. I’m not saying I wasn’t a little bit sad, wasn’t a little bit confused, didn’t have that moment of, ‘Where do we go from here?’ But once a chapter closes, it’s time to pick yourself up and move forward. So we made a phone call and said, ‘Hey, what’s the plan?’
“Because at that point in time, I hadn’t been a shoo-in for the White House card. They haven’t told me. They like to keep the door open. It’s nice when the door isn’t completely closed, but they don’t exactly keep it wide open; it’s kind of just cracked open. It’s like, ‘Hey, we’re working on some things, it’s looking good for you, but we don’t know if you’re on the White House card.’”
Michael Chandler Reveals Mauricio Ruffy Was Not 1st Opponent Offered to Him
Thankfully, Chandler eventually got onto the UFC Freedom 250 card, giving him the chance to fight at the White House. He admitted that Ruffy was his third option after the McGregor fight didn’t happen, and after an unnamed, top-five ranked lightweight was not able to make it to the event after the UFC originally offered him that fight.
“At the beginning, there was a different opponent that I accepted, but he wasn’t going to be able to compete at that time. It was a guy inside the top five. Because you know me, I always want the toughest competition I possibly can fight. I came over to the UFC as a 34-year-old seasoned veteran, former world champion outside the UFC. I told everybody, ‘I’m not going to be here for a long time, I want to be here for a good time. I’m going to fight the toughest guys in the world,’” Chandler said.
“So I had a top-five opponent. He wasn’t able to make it. For 24 hours, we were kind of in limbo. It’s like, ‘Hey, I have the White House opportunity, but I don’t have an opponent, so we better get an opponent quick, so I don’t get pushed off the White House card.’ And then they said, ‘What do you think about Ruffy?’ And before he finished saying it, I said, ‘Of course. I’ve never said no to an opponent since I signed with this organization in 2020.’ And here we are. We get to go and compete.”
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