Michael Chandler never gave up hope on eventually facing Conor McGregor after they were scheduled to meet following a coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter but constant delays, injuries and eventually a fight cancellation forced him to move on with his career.
The former lightweight title challenger then promptly booked back-to-back fights against Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett, but Chandler knew if McGregor ever actually returned to compete again, he had to be the first name on the list of potential opponents. Now that patience might finally pay off with McGregor shouting to the heavens that he wants to headline the first and perhaps only UFC event at the White House in 2026 and even Dana White has taken this comeback seriously.
While nothing is signed, sealed and delivered just yet, Chandler feels like his inevitable showdown against McGregor might finally happen on arguably the most historic UFC card of all time.
“I think we’re closer now than we ever have been,” Chandler told MMA Fighting about McGregor actually fighting again. “I’ve always said if you’re a betting man, don’t put money on him necessarily coming back but now this changes things a lot.
“In my heart of hearts, I think I’m fighting Conor McGregor at the White House and that sure does make a ton of sense for a multitude of reasons.”
As much as he wants to settle things with McGregor in the octagon, Chandler makes it clear that in reality his first priority is getting a slot on the White House card.
Of course just about every athlete under contract has made the same request but Chandler believes his ultra-exciting style combined with his drawing power makes him a likely choice to get that opportunity.
“First and foremost, I want the White House,” Chandler said. “Ideally, if it becomes Conor, that would be awesome. We have some unfinished business. I’ve got respect for him, he’s got respect for me, but we do have [some] unfinished business. He has expressed interest. When he put out that meme of me and him, I guess could call it a meme, it was A.I., it was me and him. He’s called me out on Twitter and said we have unfinished business and we do.
“We have unfinished business. We would be the only fighters not to fight after The Ultimate Fighter, who were in the same weight class. Conor and I, it makes sense.”
Add to that, Chandler believes his dependability makes him a perfect choice to take a marquee spot on that White House card because he promises he’s showing up to compete no matter what.
“I never pulled out of a fight. I never missed weight,” Chandler said. “The most important thing about this White House card whether I am a shoe in for it or not, when you’re building a card of this magnitude, it’s not necessarily even about putting on the best fight. It’s about putting on the best fights that are the most reliable. Which fighters and which matchups, which marquee matchups are going to happen on the White House lawn that have almost have a virtual certainty of actually happening. In this crazy sport, there are no guarantees, but I’m about as sure as a guarantee as you could be.
“If I can walk to the octagon, if I can physically make it to the octagon, I’m showing up. That octagon door is closing, and I’m putting on a show for the fans.”
When it comes specifically to McGregor returning, Chandler admits that even his skepticism has grown about the former two-division champion ever fighting again as time passed since the Irish superstar last set foot in the octagon.
It’s been over four years since McGregor suffered a gruesome broken leg in a trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier and then a broken toe stopped him from fighting Chandler back in 2024. Since that time, McGregor has continuously talked about a comeback but never more vehemently that declaring his plans to headline the UFC White House event.
The magnitude of this particular card is what effectively put Chandler over the top when it comes to his belief that McGregor is taking his comeback seriously.
“I think we’re definitely a lot closer today than we ever have been,” Chandler said. “I’ve heard the comments from [David] Feldman, his business partner [in BKFC] who they spend a lot of time with. I do have some inside sources of people close to him who have said the exact same sentiment. Obviously, withdrawing from the race of president of Ireland gets his focus a little bit more back on training.
“I’ve said a version of this a thousand times about us fighters in general: When you get in this sport you want the biggest fights, the brightest lights, the most amount of money, the most eyeballs you possibly can. Conor has been no exception to that. Conor has done that his entire career. All of the pay-per-view records and the biggest spectacles you could possibly be on. That’s exactly what Conor McGregor’s brand is and that’s exactly what myself and every single fighter wants. When this White House fight card got announced, obviously Conor tweeted about it or threw something out there about it. It seemed a little bit of smoke and mirrors, a little bit of blunder here and there, but ultimately if there ever was a card that Conor McGregor comes back for, it makes a lot of sense it would be this one.”
For all the talk about the UFC White House event, the card isn’t expected to take place until sometime around June 2026, which is still almost a year away.
When it comes to planning, White has said publicly he expects to start matchmaking for that event in February, which is why he hasn’t spent much time speculating on who might headline that card. But White has said repeatedly that he’s got confidence that McGregor is seriously targeting that date for his return.
“He and I have been talking non-stop,” White said about McGregor on the Impaulsive podcast. “He’s like ‘I’m dead serious, I want this. I’m training, I’m back in the [testing] pool, I’m doing all the shit.’ So we’ll see. We still got a long way to go. We’ve still got a long way to go until February when we start making this card. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Now Chandler definitely remembers all the flack he took for sitting and waiting for McGregor the last time around but he never wavered in his belief the fight would happen because he continuously received assurances from the UFC.
Once he knew McGregor wasn’t coming back, Chandler immediately booked his own return this past November.
It might feel like de ja vu all over again with this latest situation but Chandler says he’s once again willing to wait but this time it’s not even as much about McGregor as getting on that White House card.
“Waiting and myself are synonymous in a lot of people’s eyes because of The Ultimate Fighter and all that stuff,” Chandler said. “But this one’s not that far away plus I did have two fights back-to-back in five months. As soon as I made the decision to jump back in, it was [Charles] Oliveira in November, it was Paddy [Pimblett] in April. Had a torn meniscus, torn abductor muscle, torn hamstring, jacked up left leg, barely got healthy by the time it was time to start that training camp and had to kind of gingerly jump in but I did. I wanted to. I wanted to throw myself into the fire. This is very much a sink or swim sport and before you know it, if you don’t say yes, this sport will pass you by.
“So I wanted to jump in and be active right away. Now we’re focused a lot on things outside of the octagon and really focusing on the mental, the spiritual, and obviously the physical, but I’m definitely willing to wait because it’s not that far away when you really think about the promotion that we’re going to have to throw into this fight.”
Nothing is guaranteed until offers are made and contracts are signed but Chandler truly believes if McGregor is actually returning for the UFC White House event, his name has to be on the other end of that bout agreement.
“Obviously if he wants to retire and sail off into the sunset, that’s one thing,” Chandler said. “But if he comes back, it’s got to be Chandler vs. McGregor at the White House. I think there’s a lot of people on board with that.”