‘This Could Be A Career Death Sentence’

Michael Chandler knows what it’s like to battle back from adversity in mixed martial arts (MMA).

The former three-time Bellator Lightweight champion finally has his long-awaited dream match up against Conor McGregor booked for UFC 303 on June 29, 2024. Chandler, 37, played a risky game holding out for the unpredictable “Notorious” having not fought since November 2022. Ultimately, his patience paid off.

Chandler’s last time out saw him fall short via a third round rear-naked choke loss to Dustin Poirier in their UFC 281 Fight of the Night (watch highlights). Reflecting on the period of inactivity, Chandler recently compared it to a previous gap in his 31-fight career (23-8) when he lost three straight to Eddie Alvarez and Will Brooks (twice) in Bellator.

“I went 688 days without winning a fight, almost two full years without winning a fight,” Chandler told Shawn Ryan. “For a mixed martial artist, this could be a career death sentence. That’s when the doubt from everybody plus yourself continues to compound on itself.

“So, I hired a sports psychologist,” he continued. “I really started realizing I can do all the reps and all the sets and all the push-ups and all the lifts and all the sparring and all the sessions. I can do all the physical stuff, but if I’m not building up the mind, I’m really just making a bigger, faster, stronger more dangerous subpar version of the man that I’m supposed to be if I don’t start doing the work inside my mind.”

Chandler’s hiatus won’t be the only time-related factor in his upcoming match up. McGregor, 35, will also return to action for the first time after an extended break. Like “Iron,” his last fight was also a loss to Poirier when he suffered a first round technical knockout and leg break in their trilogy at UFC 264 in July 2021 (watch highlights).