Chandler explains latest McGregor callout: The fight ‘just stays alive’

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Michael Chandler has been fooled we don’t know how many times into believing a fight with Conor McGregor was possible, to the point where he spent two years on the sidelines wasting away what may have been the last competitive period of his mixed martial arts career. “Getting Chandler’d” is now something MMA fans say when a fighter waits too long for an opponent that’s never going to fight them.

Yet after an 0-2 run that included losses to Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett, “Iron Mike” is calling out McGregor again.

“1/24/26,” Chandler wrote on social media. “Conor!!!!!”

What? Chandler explained the date and challenge in an interview with MMA Junkie.

@MikeBohn) pic.twitter.com/RX881i2qjx

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) June 1, 2025

“January 24th is my wife and I’s anniversary, and it just so happens to be a Saturday. So it seems — let’s throw that out there, try and speak it into existence,” he said. “January, the turn of the new year, probably some sort of new TV deal these guys are working on. I don’t know if you’ve got some sort of inside information, but they’re working on something.”

Chandler has grown to enjoy the attention he’s received by being attached to McGregor’s big comeback — a comeback that never materialized, and is currently looking less and less likely as “The Notorious” approaches four years without a fight.

“I get asked about it almost every single interview, and rightfully so,” Chandler said. “The Conor – Chandler thing just stays alive. Just a couple of weeks ago he said ‘Iron Michael Chandler, unfinished business.’ So it’s not just the fact that we had the contract, we were supposed to fight in June. We did the Ultimate Fighter, we have to finish the Ultimate Fighter. It’s just, like, staying alive.”

There have been two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter since the Conor vs. Chandler season, man. It’s over. It’s finished.

“Obviously, I’m not losing sleep at night trying to get the Conor fight, wanting to get the Conor fight. But if me and Conor are supposed to fight and he’s supposed to come back, it’s going to happen and I don’t need to force it. That being said, if I’m a betting man, I’m not sure if he comes back.”

“Do I want to fight him, do I want to finish The Ultimate Fighter? Absolutely,” Chandler concluded. “So we’ll see, man. All I know is I’m gonna enjoy my family over the summertime, work on some big time business that I’ve been working on last couple of weeks since the fight. And we’ll see how this whole thing unfolds.”