UFC legend McGregor has guaranteed that he will follow through with his obligation to facing Chandler in his long-awaited return to the octagon, but reminded the American who is in charge
Conor McGregor told Michael Chandler to “sit down and wait and shut your mouth” as the pair’s fight talks grow closer to a final date being made.
Chandler and McGregor coached opposite one another on this summer’s season of The Ultimate Fighter, and were tentatively due to fight in December. But with UFC 296 now full and the Irishman’s drug testing status unclear, the bout is likely to be pushed back to next year.
The Irishman confirmed on Thursday that he has “sent his stuff” to the UFC’s Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitsky, which could move the process of getting him back in the USADA pool along. Fighters in the promotion are required to spend six months in the randomised testing pool and return two negative fights before they may fight.
And speaking exclusively with Mirror Fighting last week at the launch of his Forged Irish Stout at Jack’s Bar in London, McGregor insisted that his comeback “has to be” against Chandler, before goading his rival by telling him “Chandler, sit down and wait and shut your mouth, yeah? The Mac will be here soon.”
He also declared that his comeback was “imminent,” and said he was still holding out some degree of hope that they could somehow fight in December. However, that seems increasingly unlikely and Chandler has since said that he feels UFC 300 next April is a more reasonable timeframe.
