Michael Chandler doubts Conor McGregor delays UFC return until July but has patience to keep waiting

When it comes to his highly anticipated matchup with Conor McGregor, one thing is certain for Michael Chandler.

“Nobody wants a fight announcement more than me,” Chandler told MMA Junkie Radio.

Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has been tabbed as McGregor’s (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) return opponent for a while now, but the fight has yet to formally materialize since they coached Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter” against each other this year.

McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, recently said on “The MMA Hour” that McGregor might not return until July, which might not ideal for Chandler considering he hasn’t fought since a November 2022 submission loss to Dustin Poirier.

Chandler, however, isn’t buying that timeline.

“I’m solely focused on McGregor,” Chandler said. “I was merely saying that I believe it’s smoke and mirrors, and I don’t think they have any intention on waiting until July. I’ve been asked numerous times, ‘What’s the hard date that you say, ‘Hey, when I get to this date, I’m calling up Hunter (Campbell), I’m calling up Dana (White), and I’m going to say screw Conor, I want to fight somebody else?’ I don’t have that date in mind.

“We’re going to get to the end of the year, I’m going to enjoy a beautiful Christmas with my family here in Nashville, Tennessee, which I don’t always get to do in this beautiful thing we call the fight game, and once the first of the year hits, we’re really going to start putting rubber to the road and try to figure this thing out. Hopefully we’ll get an announcement in that first month or so of 2024.”

Chandler and McGregor have been linked to UFC 300 in April, which Chandler would love. But despite no concrete date being set, Chandler hasn’t run out of patience just yet.

“When you have a card such as UFC 300, which people have rumored us to be on, I have not been told UFC 300, but I sure would not say no because that’s going to be a nice, big card,” Chandler said. “Obviously I would prefer that. That would be awesome. But you guys know me. I’m always at the gym. I’m always training.

“At this point, I’ve already waited a year or so, so what’s waiting another couple of months? Each month that goes by, I’m like, ‘Whatever, man.’ I’m still on hiatus. I’ve been on this hiatus for a year, and there’s been a lot of good things that have come from this hiatus.”