Michael Chandler calls Conor McGregor 'a quitter' ahead of anticipated fight
Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor have been verbally sparring for so long, one would think the two fought many times in the UFC octagon.
Alas, that has yet to happen but there have been teases of the two finally squaring off this summer. Although McGregor’s camp reportedly pushed for UFC 300, nothing has been announced.
Either way, Chandler called McGregor a quitter based on the Irishman’s recent fights.
“I think the fact of the matter is he’s not going to move like the Conor of old,” Chandler said on Bussin’ With the Boys. “The reason we as an MMA community loved and studied and were mystified by Conor was his movement, his angles, his confidence in the pocket, his confidence to be able to pull back when that big left hook. He’s going to be slower, he’s going to be sloppier, he’s going to be less motivated, especially at 185.”
Chandler referenced 185 pounds because McGregor’s latest Instagram post about the fight with the former UFC title challenger was to be at 185 pounds. Not even at 170 pounds, which was the initial rumored weight for the lightweights (155).
“You guys know my fight style,” Chandler said. “Conor McGregor is a quitter. Conor McGregor is a quitter, especially when the pressure gets to him. Look at the Khabib fight, you look at the Nate Diaz fight, the Dustin Poirier fight.
“I mean, when he gets pressure put on him … the guy who thinks he’s the alpha dog doesn’t like the pressure, because ultimately, it’s just one big facade of trying to make sure that the entire world doesn’t out him and doesn’t see the real him. The real Conor is a quitter. Conor McGregor will quit in the second round of this fight. It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be really, really, really fun.”
Since Chandler and McGregor coached against one another on The Ultimate Fighter going into last summer, there’s been no fight date announced.
Since the lightweight title win in 2016, his second UFC belt, McGregor is 1-3 in the UFC over the course of seven years. He lost a title fight to Khabib Nurmagomedov, knocked out Donald Cerrone in a welterweight bout and lost two fights to Dustin Poirier in 2021.
Chandler is 23-8 in his MMA career and 2-3 in the UFC after he came over from Bellator. He is the former Bellator Lightweight Champion and did fight for the UFC belt, but lost to Charles Oliveira in May of 2021.