It was May 2022 and Michael Chandler had just scored a breathtaking front-kick knockout, crumbling Tony Ferguson before a gasping crowd in Phoenix. This was a bonus "wow!" for fans whose primary draw to UFC 274 was the still-to-come main event, a championship fight between two other lightweights, both bigger stars than Chandler.
But there at center cage stood Chandler, riding a wave of adrenaline from his starring role in a foot-to-the-face finish that would be a tough act for even Charles Oliveira or Justin Gaethje to follow.
A microphone was thrust in front of his face for his postfight interview, and Chandler did what one would expect of a ranked 155-pounder after a spectacular win: He stated his case for why he should be the next opponent for whichever of the night's headliners took home the belt. Then Chandler's voice deepened as he redirected his shouting, pointing bluster toward someone who knows a thing or two about that type of approach to a mic.
"Conor McGregor! You gotta come back and fight somebody!" Chandler bellowed, commanding the crowd's attention like a brawny Tony Robbins. "I am the most entertaining lightweight on the planet! But I want to up the stakes, Conor! I want you at your biggest! I want you at your baddest! And I want you at your best! You and me at 170 this summer, this fall, this winter!"
It was a heady callout that generated online buzz among MMA fans. But the buzz turned out to be a bust, as "this summer, this fall, this winter" all passed without a fight materializing. McGregor was healing a broken leg and appeared preoccupied by Hollywood and making headlines, many of them troubling. Chandler waited patiently, though, and by the following February, he and the starry Irishman were named coaches of "The Ultimate Fighter," Season 31.
"Then, at the end of the season," UFC president Dana White announced in a video revealing the TUF news, "McGregor and Chandler will fight live on ESPN+ pay-per-view. I do not have a date or a location for that. But we will announce it soon."
Over two more years have passed, and still no fight. The UFC did manage to book McGregor vs. Chandler for June 29, 2024, but on June 13, citing a McGregor toe injury, the promotion canceled it. Chandler finally conceded that he'd been waiting long enough for his date with the sport's biggest star -- and the presumably life-changing payday that comes with it. He moved on, taking a fight against Oliveira later in the year, which he lost by decision.
Chandler is back on Saturday at UFC 314 (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPN/ESPN+/Disney+ at 8 p.m. ET), facing the cheeky British prospect Paddy Pimblett. Taking a fight with this brashly talkative fighter from across the pond might seem a cruel letdown for Chandler after he had for so long been tied to a different cocksure fellow from that part of the world, one who's significantly more accomplished and higher profile. But Chandler is better off being paired with Pimblett than with McGregor. Here are three reasons why.
Chandler will get paid more
Let's acknowledge right off the bat that this is a counterintuitive premise. McGregor is the biggest star in the sport by a mile, and a fight with him would surely net his opponent more money than any other fight. However, the mere act of signing to fight McGregor did not make Chandler a rich man.
For Chandler to cash in, McGregor would have to make it into the cage and fight -- something he hasn't done since breaking his leg during a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. And in the nearly five years before that, McGregor fought only four times. He has retired almost as many times as he's fought.
Who can blame him? McGregor has made a fortune and lives a comfortable life. His interests and possibilities are bigger than what a 30-foot-by-30-foot cage can contain. Chandler may be the Norman Vincent Peale of MMA, but even his positive thinking isn't powerful enough to manifest a McGregor return.
Chandler is better off with a sure thing. Pimblett might not rain gold bullion down upon him, but he's way more likely than McGregor to show up on payday.
Chandler will be the A-side
Sure, this is debatable, as Pimblett is popular with fans, too. But Chandler has performed under far brighter spotlights. He was a three-time lightweight champion during a decade with Bellator MMA, and his six UFC fights have put him in the cage with lightweight elites -- Dan Hooker, Oliveira, Gaethje, Ferguson, Poirier and Oliveira again. Pimblett's résumé is no match.
Pimblett does have a winning way about him, though -- and I'm not talking about just his run of eight consecutive victories. His high-spirited demeanor seems more real-life than showy persona. This matters to discerning fans. Still, Chandler should be able to hold his own in the promotional buildup.
That would not be the case if Chandler's microphone skills were sparring with McGregor's. There is no A-side and B-side in a McGregor fight promotion -- he composes and sings lead on every song. He plays all of the loudest instruments, too, and sells tickets at the box office. The opponent gets the stage for the promotional equivalent of a 20-minute opening set.
Chandler will have a better chance to win
Pimblett is a slight favorite (-160 per ESPN BET), but Chandler has something important in his favor: He knows what he's up against in the Englishman. McGregor, on the other hand, would be a mystery opponent.
It's impossible to gauge how much fight is left in McGregor. He has been idle for so long that not one of the UFC's 11 current champions was in possession of their belt at the time of McGregor's most recent Octagon appearance. And when he has fought in recent years, McGregor hasn't performed so well -- he's lost three of his past four fights. However, those defeats came against the iron of the division, Poirier twice and Khabib Nurmagomedov, so let's not dismiss McGregor as a has-been. It'd be wiser to view him, at this point, as a mythological figure that might or might not exist in reality.
Fighters always say they've prepared to face the best version of their opponent. But McGregor at his best, a dynamic striker fueled by uncanny timing and precision, would have pieced up the all-offense, no-defense "Iron Mike" the same way he wrecked Chandler's old Bellator rival Eddie Alvarez in 2016 to become the first UFC champion to reign in two divisions simultaneously. That McGregor no longer exists, of course, but could Chandler withstand even 75% of that guy?
Pimblett, by contrast, is in his prime and has won all six of his UFC fights, half of them with his dynamic submission game. But he's never been in the cage with anyone on Chandler's level. Pimblett did share the cage with Ferguson, although by then "El Cucuy" was a faded fighter in the midst of the longest losing streak in UFC history. Chandler turned out Ferguson's lights in the opening seconds of Round 2. The Pimblett fight went the distance.
"Paddy the Baddy" can step up and prove something on Saturday. "Iron Mike" can halt the rise of a star in the making while also revving up his own stalled momentum. This is the right fight for both men.