LAS VEGAS – According to Michael Chandler, things aren’t as smooth with Conor McGregor as he thought they would be.
Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) respectfully called out McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and wound up getting his wish as the pair are slated to fight later this year. But first, Chandler will coach “The Ultimate Fighter 31” opposite the former UFC two-division champion.
UFC president Dana White hinted at an altercation between the two this past weekend during the filming of the show, and Chandler confirms that things are starting to heat up.
“It’s always fun and cordial until it isn’t,” Chandler said backstage at UFC 285. “It’s always copacetic until we hit the boiling point. Conor and I are natural born competitors. I came here to prove that I’m better – better than him in every sense of the word, in every single aspect of competition, and not just us fighting later this year, but in this competition of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ Conor and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other.
“Even in his awesome brash trash talk, behind all of that stuff, he’s got a lot of respect for the sport, for the purity of mixed martial arts, the purity of martial arts, and all of its competitors. Conor and I have a lot of mutual respect for one another. But ultimately I don’t know if we like each other as much as we thought we were going to. And the good thing is, we get to settle it with 4-ounce gloves under a certain rule set and a contest later on this year. And I can’t wait.”
Chandler also discussed McGregor’s multiple personalities that he’s experienced while around him. The Irish superstar is notorious for his trash talk, but fans saw a cordial version of him in his rematch with Dustin Poirier, before he returned to his usual ways in their trilogy bout at UFC 264.
“I think I made my prediction correctly when I see a guy in Conor who is so good at looking at the Venn diagram of good guy/bad guy, and guy in between who doesn’t quite know when he’s going to be crazy-mean, crazy-witty, crazy-nice, crazy-respective, or respectful only – crazy-respectful, just to set you up to lower your guard just so he can spit you with some venom the next day,” Chandler said. “Conor on Monday is different than Conor on Tuesday, who’s different than Conor on Wednesday, and I freaking love it.
“I absolutely love it. I came in with my arms open, my hands open, saying I have no idea what to expect here. I’m just trying to be authentically myself and let the chips fall where they may because you never know. You never quite know what’s going to happen. And also with me and my team and his, you can’t make a plan, because your plan’s going to get spoiled on this show, because there’s all kinds of crazy stuff getting pulled out of the hat at all different times. But Conor’s been both sides of the coin, to say the least.”
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Michael Chandler describes ‘Venn diagram’ of Conor McGregor’s personalities during ‘TUF 31’ filming