"He tried to smoke me out"- Michael Chandler opens up about Conor McGregor's pre-fight antics and concerns about the fight's fate

Michael Chandler recently weighed in on his highly anticipated fight against Conor McGregor and opened up about the Irishman's pre-fight antics. Given how long this bout has been in the making, 'Iron' also described what it feels like to wait patiently for his opponent to get ready to fight finally.

McGregor and Chandler played a coaching role in the last season of The Ultimate Fighter and were expected to clash in the octagon after the show concluded earlier this year. However, the Irishman's absence from the USADA testing pool and his reluctance to submit his samples on time to compete this year proved a significant stumbling block for the matchup officially being announced.

In a recent chat with Daniel Cormier and Ryan Clark on the DC & RC show, Michael Chandler confirmed that the Conor McGregor fight talks are moving in the right direction. He further outlined how the Irishman tried to trick him into fighting another opponent before their bout and said:

"I was never going to give up on this fight... This is the fight that I wanted... We've been this close for eight-nine-ten months. Some days, it felt like it wasn't going to happen. Conor's the guy I'm fighting. Unfortunately, I think he tried to smoke me out. He tried to wait me out 'cause he thought I might try to be active."

Catch Chandler's comments below (16:10):

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Dana White confirms Conor McGregor has submitted paperwork to re-enter the USADA testing pool

Conor McGregor recently sent the combat sports community into a frenzy after posting a tweet about re-entering the USADA testing pool. The Irishman has been out of action for over two years after suffering a nasty leg fracture at UFC 264 during his fight against Dustin Poirier. He was removed from the USADA testing list last year due to his injury.

As mentioned, McGregor is strongly linked to a blockbuster return against Michael Chandler. However, he will need to spend at least six months in the USADA testing pool to be eligible to compete. With fight negotiations between the involved parties seemingly headed in the right direction, McGregor's tweet unsurprisingly stirred up a lot of excitement within the MMA world.

At the UFC Vegas 80 post-fight press conference, Dana White shared an update on Conor the McGregor vs. Michael Chandler bout. Tempering expectations, he stated:

"He is not officially in the USADA pool. He submitted the paperwork. Probably by Monday, he'll be submitted... I literally have nothing planned with Conor McGregor right now. The paperwork is being submitted. We'll play it by ear and see how things work out."

Screenshot from @SportskeedaMMA on X