It’s official: Conor McGregor will return to motion after a virtually three 12 months break to tackle Michael Chandler on June twenty ninth. The match-up, part of the UFC’s huge Worldwide Struggle Week festivities in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been constructing since McGregor and Chandler coached a season of The Final Fighter collectively over summer time 2023. Now we lastly know when it’s happening.
“The Infamous” announced the fight on his social media accounts, and in addition included an fascinating curveball: he claims the bout will happen at middleweight, two weight courses up from the place Chandler usually competes. If that’s purported to hassle “Iron Mike,” it hasn’t.
“I all the time mentioned I needed you at your largest, your baddest and your finest,” Chandler wrote on X (previously Twitter). “185 would look good on me.”
I all the time mentioned I needed you at your largest, your baddest and your finest. 185 would look good on me.
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) December 31, 2023
“Any weight is nice with me,” he added when chatting with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
McGregor began his UFC profession as a featherweight, making his means by way of the ranks to develop into undisputed champion in 2015. He then fought Nate Diaz twice at welterweight earlier than dropping to light-weight and snatching the 155 pound belt off Eddie Alvarez in 2016. After dropping the title to Khabib Nurmagomedov, he’d transfer again as much as welterweight in opposition to Donald Cerrone, after which again right down to 155 for his two losses in opposition to Dustin Poirier.
In the course of the two and a half years he’s spent out of motion rehabbing a horrific leg damage, McGregor has packed on pounds of muscle. Whereas previous welterweight bouts have been contests in opposition to hyped up lightweights, he might now be a reliable 170 pounder. That offers him the scale benefit over Chandler, who has caught to 155 kilos for over a decade.
Chandler clearly isn’t too bothered by the entire state of affairs. He most likely thinks any advantages McGregor beneficial properties with dimension can be negated by a loss in velocity. As if there weren’t already a ton of unknowns relating to Conor’s comeback, we now need to marvel how he’ll function as a … middleweight? Win or lose, it’ll be fascinating to observe when it goes down on June twenty ninth, 2024.
