Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya isn't advising Michael Chandler to stay away from Conor McGregor completely, just take a slight detour.
Chandler will no longer face McGregor in the main event of UFC 303 on June 29 due to McGregor's undisclosed injury. There is hope the bout may be rebooked for later this year, but there are no guarantees. So Adesanya, who will challenge Drix du Plessis for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 305 on Aug. 17, is proposing Chandler return to the Octagon to face a different opponent, so the former Bellator champion can have both.
“I think this fight is going to happen anyway,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Chandler should just fight. [for the time being]and that's even better for him, because win or lose, he can still train. Fight anyway. That match with Conor will last forever, because they've played against each other. [as coaches] upon [The Ultimate Fighter]Beef and other things scattered all over the place.
“So, it's already there. So I think it would be nice to have another fight. Yeah.”
UFC CEO Dana White said that if Chandler wants to fight before McGregor is ready to return from injury, he'll make it happen. “Iron” seems adamant about waiting for McGregor because he was pot-committed when he was his coach. About TUF32 Chandler hasn't competed since a submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281 in November 2022.
It's an even longer hiatus for McGregor, who was due to return just under three years after suffering a devastating leg injury in his TKO loss to Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.
