A few more details have been released about the upcoming fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.
Last week the UFC announced a huge matchup slated for later this year. The long-awaited return of Conor McGregor is now on the horizon as he has signed on to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. Coaching across from him will be none other than Michael Chandler. Chandler has been asking for the bout with McGregor for a long time and now it seems he will be getting his wish. The timeline is still a bit unclear but it is confirmed that they will be fighting when filming is through.
The Ultimate Fighter show has been around for many years. Some of the biggest names in the UFC have either been coaches on the show or got their starts in the organization as cast members. This will be the second time as a coach for McGregor who played that role across from Urijah Faber back in 2015. At that time those two coaches did not fight when the season ended.
Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler will face each other at 170 pounds following TUF
There are few details out right now regarding this upcoming season but it appears to be featuring lightweights. Both McGregor and Chandler have spent much of their careers in the lightweight division but it seems that they will be fighting at welterweight when the time comes. MMA journalist Ariel Helwani confirmed this while on the Ringer MMA Show.
“It’ll begin airing here in the United States on ESPN television, so ESPN linear, and ESPN+ May 30th to August 15th,” he said h/t MMA Mania. “Then the plan is they will fight in the third quarter. Last I heard, it’s September. We were talking about the weight, I’ve confirmed it’s 170. I just wanted confirmation, for it to be 100%. So that’s an interesting little wrinkle, especially for Chandler who isn’t used to fighting at that weight.”
McGregor has fought at this weight class before and has been teasing his intentions to move up. He has been packing on the weight during his time away from the sport and although his exact timeline to be eligible for return is unclear, according to Helwani, September is the targeted date. McGregor must undergo six months of USADA testing before being able to compete in the UFC following his hiatus.
