PHOENIX – UFC president Dana White thinks autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] vs. Michael Chandler makes sense after UFC 274.
After scoring a highlight-reel front-kick knockout of Tony Ferguson on Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Chandler (23-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC) cut a promo for the ages and wants to welcome back McGregor to the octagon – and is even willing to do it at welterweight.
In response, McGregor expressed interest in the bout happening at some point in his career, and White also likes the matchup. However, the UFC president isn’t ready to matchmake McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) until he’s officially cleared to return from his leg injury.
“That’s a fun one, man,” White said during the UFC 274 post-fight news conference. “Who the hell wouldn’t want to see that fight? But Conor’s not ready yet, so Conor’s hurt. When Conor’s 100 percent and can actually really start training for a fight, then we talk about what’s next for Conor.”
McGregor was also called out by Charles Oliveira, who submitted Justin Gaethje in the main event. The Irish superstar is not short of options with numerous fighters calling him out, but while White won’t commit to a name, he assures that whoever McGregor ends up facing, it’ll be a big one.
“He’s the biggest superstar in the sport,” White said. “So everybody’s going to call him out. You guys for the last however many months want to talk to me about Conor. I would have never said Chandler in a million years and then tonight happened the way that it happened, and Chandler says, ‘Hey, Conor, let’s fight.’ And Conor’s like, ‘You know what? I would like to fight you. I think it would be an exciting fight.’
“So by the time Conor is ready to actually compete, who knows what’s going to happen? Who knows what the landscape is gonna be? But I promise you, we’ll make a good one.”
