“I'm Conor's next fight” … Michael Chandler is willing to “bet everything” that he will face Conor McGregor in his UFC comeback

With the two set to face off at UFC 309 in November, “Iron” Chandler believes a win over “Do Bronx” would give him the choice between fighting the undisputed lightweight champion or “The Notorious” McGregor.

Michael Chandler is willing to bet everything that he will face McGregor in the comeback fight

Although he has decided to take another fight rather than wait longer than the two years he already has, the 38-year-old believes he will still be the one to welcome the former two-weight world champion back to the UFC.

“I stick with the idea that Conor McGregor comes back and when he does, his path will go through Nashville, Tennessee, and to Michael Chandler, and we'll end The Ultimate Fighter,” Chandler began to explain in an interview with MMAFighting.

“I'm Conor's next fight but he's not my next fight and I'm ready to put it all on the line, I'm ready to put it all on the line, I'm ready to put it all on the line, I'm ready to take all the pressure on a huge fight.

“If he has his house in order, I will wait for him. If not, I have no problem beating Charles and fighting for the title because if I had the choice today, I would fight Islam (Makhachev) after my win against Charles,” he continued.

The aforementioned Islam Makhachev is out until the new year as he is currently recovering from a hand injury. His next challenger is likely to be Arman Tsarukyan, who will likely wait for the Russian to return before fighting again.

Michael Chandler hits back at critics who teased him about the two-year wait

During the two years he waited for a fight against McGregor, Chandler was teased not only by his fans but also by his fellow fighters.

Despite the constant taunts from other fighters, Chandler believes that any other fighter in his position would have done exactly the same thing as him.

“It's really funny. A thousand fighters have sat here across from you and done interviews with you. And all of those who said I was Conor's little whipping boy or I waited too long or I wasted my career, every single one of them would have stuck with that Conor fight, even if they said publicly that they wouldn't have,” Chandler claimed.

In classic Chandler fashion, the former UFC title challenger remained extremely positive throughout the process, even stating that it might have been a good thing that he had two years off to properly recover from multiple wars.

“I enjoyed it, I needed a break from the sport… Being taken out of the sport gave me a new lease of life and a new love for the sport,” Chandler explained.

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