Michael Chandler Says He’d Finish Conor McGregor Within Two Rounds
The victorious Chandler is now a free agent and one person that Chandler would like to fight is former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor, whom Chandler has a lot of respect for.
“The thing about Conor McGregor is I’ve always loved what he has done with the sport,” Chandler said after the event (via Simon Head & Nolan King of MMA Junkie). “I’ve never once hated on him. In the very beginning, I did say he’s not as good as he thinks he is, but he’s better than we think he is, and he continued to prove that. I still don’t think he’s as good as he thinks he is, but that’s a testament to his self-belief. If all of us had a little bit more self-belief, like Conor McGregor, life would be a little bit different and we’d look at life through a different lens.”
McGregor, who hasn’t competed since UFC 246, did retire again from professional MMA competition shortly after UFC 250.
Chandler says that he ever did get the chance to fight McGregor, it would take less than two rounds to defeat the Irish fighter.
“As far as that fight goes, I finish Conor in under two, in my opinion,” he said. “It’d be similar to, shades of (Nate) Diaz I. Wear him down, hit him with hard shots – hard, hard shots. Take every single one of his shots. He’s got that sneaky and strong and thick and hard left hand that he throws, and it’s straight. You avoid that, wear him down a little bit, make him see Jesus. Just put him out.”
There is no word yet on where Chandler will sign with next, but he has been a part of the Bellator roster for nearly a decade.
