01 February 2023 , 14:05
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Michael Chandler has continued his push for a fight with Conor McGregor, offering to move up to welterweight and coach on The Ultimate Fighter in order to make the match-up happen.
The former Bellator lightweight champion has wanted to face McGregor since arriving in the UFC, and even three losses in his five promotional fights hasn't dampened interest in seeing such a fight take place with fans. Chandler is known for his explosive style, and believes he and the former two-weight UFC champion would put on a legendary fight.
Chandler is known to fight at lightweight, where McGregor seemingly has little interest in competing once he returns to action this year. But he would gladly move up to welterweight for the fight, and even do a promotional run as the opposite coach when the Irishman returns to The Ultimate Fighter.
Speaking on the Believe You Me podcast, Chandler confirmed that Tony Ferguson's claims that he would be facing McGregor on the show are exaggerated, telling hosts Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith: "I know for sure that was definitely just a tweet thrown out there to see if it gained any traction."
"That's been in the talks," he added of The Ultimate Fighter. "Obviously everybody knows I would be down. Me, Conor on TUF whether it be four-six weeks or however long we'd be filming that thing. The tension, the rivalry, the competition, the trash talk, just the animosity that would be built up and then going into a training camp and then fight later on after the show.
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"I want the fight. Everyone knows that. The fans want the fight, Dana has gone public saying he wants that fight, so the UFC wants the fight. I've actually heard from numerous UFC people that it's the fight that people are talking about. Man, huge fight. Can you imagine the first round? Can you imagine The Foggy Dew and then my song comes on and we go out there? Just two dudes trying to finish each other in the first round. Massive."
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A big issue would be the weight difference, given that Chandler is not even a particularly big lightweight at just 5'8". But he claims that during his current spell out of the octagon, he may even be bigger than McGregor, even though the Irishman has bulked up considerably over the last two years.
And he would happily leave lightweight, saying: “I actually have told myself, and you could go down to Florida and talk to my team [at Kill Cliff MMA], I'm like 'man, if I win this fight I'm never fighting at 155lb again'. I’m walking around almost 190lb right now. I stay lean, because I’m always training.
"I’m not getting fluffy or fat, and I’m always around that 185-190 clip. So 170lb, for me, would be a dream come true. I don’t like making 155lb. The only reason I can make 155lb is just good, old-fashioned 12 weeks of diet, exercise, discipline, and a little bit of dehydration at the end, so why not do 170lb? I still think I’m bigger than Conor at this point, even with his regimen that he’s been on.”