Chandler’s Inner Doubter Questions Mac Worthiness

Even a fighter as great as Michael Chandler gets impostor syndrome sometimes. Here’s how the former Bellator champion deals with it.

Michael Chandler is getting philosophical about his upcoming fight with Conor McGregor following two years of frustrations and delays.

“Iron” Mike and “The Notorious” were finally set to scrap at the end of June, but that date went up in smoke after McGregor broke his toe. Now the new expected date is UFC 310 on December 7th, but nothing has been announced yet. In a new interview with Action Network, Chandler discussed the match-up and how he’s prepared himself mentally to face the biggest star in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA).

“[My inner voice] does not think I deserve this fight [with Conor],” he said. “But I do. He never would have, man, and I think we all have that little guy or that little gal inside of us. And it’s okay to have them. And I think it’s also okay to open up about it. It seems more genuine, and it’s more authentic: to speak about your struggles, to speak about your shortcomings, to speak about your doubts, because if you act like you are impenetrable and you’re bulletproof, it’s an unattainable psychology.”

Part of Chandler’s break from fighting as he waits for McGregor has been spent working on his motivational speaking, and he expounded on the process of breaking out of a small town, small expectation mentality.

“I do hear the doubters, and I do hear the naysayers, and I do hear the haters, of course,” he continued. “But we just keep on moving forward, and even though that little guy from that little town doesn’t believe that we were created to create this crazy life that we have? We just pat them on the back and say, ‘It’s okay. Just keep on coming. We’re gonna keep on climbing.’”

“I have definitely learned how to silence [the inner voice] more. I was a small guy from a small town who was taught to do small things, and I think there’s just so many people that resonate with that message, that message of ‘Mom and Dad told me, or grandma and grandpa told me, or the people in my town told me that this is what we do – this is the level that we climb to, and we don’t climb past that because we are Chandlers, or we are from High Ridge, Missouri.’ So I have continued to climb out of that box my entire career.”

“I think some dragons you slay and some you get really good at pushing into a corner and managing and realizing that they are your friend,” he concluded. “I was mad at the little guy for a very long time, and then once I began to acknowledge him and became friends with him, [I] realized that there are a lot of great things that I have accomplished, and great things that I have acquired in this life because of him.”

“I stopped hating him, and just started to embrace him and enjoying the ride. And we’re on this journey together.”

UFC CEO Dana White recently promised there was big news coming regarding Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor. Hopefully that involves a fight date, because this journey would feel awfully silly if McGregor fight doesn’t come together.