Michael Chandler says Conor McGregor’s MMA legacy is on the line after long UFC absence

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler feels Conor McGregor’s fighting legacy is in jeopardy if he doesn’t return.

Chandler will face former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira in the UFC 309 co-main event. He returns to the Octagon almost two full years after his last fight amidst a long wait for the McGregor booking.

After a lengthy wait, Chandler opted to take another high-profile fight as McGregor’s comeback remains uncertain. Despite McGregor recently hinting at a February return, nothing has been confirmed by the UFC, as of this writing.

Some believe McGregor will never fight again, but Chandler thinks the former two-division champion must return to keep his legacy intact.

Michael Chandler weighs in on speculation Conor McGregor won’t fight again

In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Chandler explained why he remains hopeful about McGregor’s UFC comeback.

“Conor’s a very ‘Flavor of the Week’ kind of a guy,” Chandler said of McGregor. “I believe Conor McGregor fights again. The way it’s all happened, the campaign he put on calling it ‘The Greatest Comeback in Combat Sports History’. The Ultimate Fighter, signing a contract to fight me and then pulling out of the fight. If you really think about Conor McGregor’s legacy, the guy who was known to have opponents pull out of fights, and then saying ‘I don’t care! Dana, figure out who I’m fighting..’ that’s been his legacy…

“So to let his career end a couple of years ago when he broke his leg, and then to do a training camp and do all of the promotion for TUF 31. Contract signed against me, pull out with a broken pinkie toe, the broken pinkie toe becomes the last thing you did inside of your legacy. I don’t think Conor wants that. If you look at the way he lives his life, it doesn’t look like he’s thinking about training, or fighting, like the rest of us savages. But I do believe he’s still romantic about the sport. When he does come back, I do believe he fights me.”

Chandler and McGregor were supposed to headline UFC 303 in June before McGregor withdrew due to injury. McGregor hasn’t fought since a doctor’s stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.