People love freebies. Look at the lines that form near the bakery in Costco when food samples are being passed out. If you give something away for free, there are always going to be plenty of takers unless it's advice. Then, few want it or pay attention to it.
Many, it seems, want to pass along advice to UFC lightweight Michael Chandler, who is navigating one of the most unique situations any fighter has faced. He coached against Conor McGregor on Season 31 of 'The Ultimate Fighter" and, as is tradition, was supposed to fight McGregor at season's end on a pay-per-view card.
Filming began in February 2023 and the season aired from May until August 2023. When the UFC made the decision to have McGregor coach on TUF, it was a signal it felt he would be healthy enough to fight upon season's end. McGregor broke his left leg on July 10, 2021, and hasn't competed since. Eventually, he was scheduled to fight Chandler in the main event of UFC 303 on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Chandler is still awaiting that fight. On June 13, UFC CEO Dana White announced that McGregor suffered an injury that had forced him to pull out of his scheduled bout with an undisclosed injury.
All we know about McGregor's most recent injury is that it's not related to the broken leg he suffered against Dustin Poirier.
It's left Chandler, though, in an odd situation. He hasn't competed since losing to Poirier on Nov. 12, 2022, at Madison Square Garden in New York in the co-main event of UFC 281.
And the fight has not been rescheduled. While McGregor has alluded to being able to fight again, that's no sure thing, and Chandler has put his career on hold banking on the fact that he will return.
File photo
Conor McGregor suffered an undisclosed injury that forced him on June 13 to withdraw from UFC 303.
There are plenty who have urged Chandler to move on, to forget the fight with McGregor and to take a bout with someone else. Of course, that's the easy thing to say.
But even though the current McGregor is diminished from what he was at his peak when he was a UFC double champion, he's still the biggest star in combat sports and one of the most recognizable names in sports, period. Chandler has accomplished a great deal in his MMA career. He is a three-time Bellator lightweight champion, and he fought Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight belt. In five UFC bouts, he's won two Fight of the Night bonuses and two Performance of the Night bonuses.
He's got wins over notables such as Tony Ferguson, Dan Hooker. Benson Henderson and Eddie Alvarez, and has gone 23-8 with 18 finishes. He's a hugely accomplished fighter in his own right.
A win over McGregor, though, would put his career to another level, and in that vein, it's understandable that he's chosen to wait.
UFC CEO Dana White appeared on The Jim Rome Show on Monday and said, “Whatever he wants to do, if he wants to get a fight this summer, we’ll do whatever he wants. He’s one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever worked with. He’s a good human being, and I like him a lot. Whatever he wants to do, we’ll figure it out for him.”
Chandler wants to wait. He said in an Instagram post that he made a commitment to appear at UFC 303, and while he won't appear as a fighter, he will still be in Las Vegas to greet fans and live up to his word.
That's the kind of guy Chandler is, though he has more than lived up to his commitment at this point. He's now 38 years old and he has to think about how long he's going to wait before he ultimately decides to cut the cord. He hasn't spoken to the media since McGregor's withdrawal, but we have to assume he knows more about what's going on with McGregor than anyone outside of the UFC C-suite.
It's hard to know what to make of the secrecy, though, surrounding McGregor's injury. If it was a cut, for instance, why not say that? Cuts happen in training all the time and it's no big deal.
If it is a cut, though, perhaps Chandler has been told some tentative date the event might be rescheduled.
But he's going to have a career post-McGregor either way. He's one of the most exciting fighters in the world, even if he is just 2-3 in his UFC career. Not many are going to think of his record when he's scheduled, because his history tells you every fight he is in will be compelling theater and edge-of-the-seat viewing.
His decision, to take another fight or continue to wait, has to be agonizing. If he takes a fight, he risks losing the opportunity against McGregor if the former champion does come back. But if he waits, and McGregor doesn't return in the short-term, his career grinds to a halt.
Hopefully, McGregor announces soon that he can fight this year, though it would surprise me.
One way or another, Chandler deserves a positive resolution to this scenario. Nobody could have been a better soldier than he's been.
It's time something finally went his way.
Jessica Alcheh/USA Today Sports
Michael Chandler hasn't fought since facing Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 in 2022.