Michael Chandler has long been cited as the man Conor McGregor will fight next, but after recent issues outside the octagon, there is a growing sense that the clash may never actually take place, albeit the 38-year-old American refuses to rule it out.
Their original clash was postponed due to injury, and the sight of the two going face to face looks less and less likely due to a whole slew of legal issues McGregor has to contend with, but it should be noted that fans of the UFC are still keen to see the Dubliner back in action sooner rather than later.
The allure McGregor retains is huge, and should a fight transpire, you can be sure that betting action will be every bit as intense as the pursuit of ringside seats and pay-per-view access, and those who want to back Conor or Chandler can use this bet365 promo to help make the wager less of a risk.
McGregor is beset with legal concerns but is still very much the man all UFC stars want to face, not least due to the financial benefits of doing so. Chandler was seen by many as the next in line, but should English star Paddy Pimblett beat him in UFC 314, he’d perhaps be up for the task.
On that potential encounter, Pimblett responded,
“Sounds very tasty,”
“A lot of people have said this to me already, ‘Beat Chandler, take the McGregor fight.’ Obviously, it’s the biggest fight in the sport, the biggest fight we’ve ever seen.”
But first, there’s Chandler, who was a little cagey when asked what the future may hold for McGregor in the UFC,
“Heart of hearts is tough man, because I think heart of hearts says Conor is coming back at some point, but if I’m a betting man, if I’m using my brain, I wouldn’t put money on it,”
“But that’s where I’m at today, right now. I’m focused on a blonde dude from Liverpool. My heart of hearts says I’m not sure for sure, but Conor’s got to come back to his first love, the one thing that has given him every single shiny object he’s currently chasing, taking all these side quests and side jobs, every single thing that he has can be tied back some way or the other to the UFC and the opportunity they gave him.”
And perhaps that’s the key element in all this. McGregor’s first love may be the UFC, but he’s now involved in so many other projects that a return to MMA may not be uppermost in his mind, especially given the maelstrom that follows him wherever he goes.
The flip side of that may be the sense that, at least in the octagon, he has a measure of control. He is the ultimate showman, and he does seem to be itching to get back at it, though his comeback seems continually blocked by one scandal or another. It’s now almost four years since his last fight, and remember, too, that those back-to-back defeats to Dustin Poirier were pretty devastating at the time.
Chandler perhaps summed up McGregor’s potential future best when he concluded by saying,
“I haven’t walked a mile in that man’s shoes, so I’m not going to say what he is thinking. But my heart of hearts says he’s coming back at some point, but if I was a betting man, I ain’t putting money on it.”