Michael Chandler explains viral photo with Machine Gun Kelly after fan backlash

Michael Chandler recently explained his viral photo with famous American rapper and musical artist Machine Gun Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker. While fans weren't too pleased to see 'Iron' hang out with Baker, Chandler clarified that his post was meant as a poke at Conor McGregor ahead of their fight.

Chandler is set to welcome McGregor back to the octagon at UFC 303 on June 29 in a highly anticipated welterweight contest. While McGregor hasn't been active in the octagon, he's made headlines several times during his extended hiatus.

The Irishman notably got into an altercation with Baker during a high-profile awards ceremony in 2021 and even tried to throw his drink at the musician. Unsurprisingly, the two don't appear to be fond of each other. 'MGK' was also involved in a public spat with Sean Strickland earlier this year.

Given Baker's history with UFC fighters, fans weren't happy about Chandler posing for a picture with him at the Stagecoach music festival. After 'Iron' posted the picture on Instagram, many flooded the comments section with negative opinions.

In a recent interview with New York Post Sports, Chandler explained meeting Baker and addressed the controversial photo. He said:

"We ran into each other at Stagecoach man... We are all so similar and even in our greatest dissimilarities, we have so many similarities... Obviously, it was a picture because it was a nod at Conor and their history, and people love to make things of it, and either way, man, he's an artist, [and] we are artists of the mixed martial fashion." [H/T MMANews.com]

Watch Michael Chandler's full interview below:

---

Looking at the history between Conor McGregor and Machine Gun Kelly that Michael Chandler referenced

As mentioned above, Michael Chandler wanted to throw a subtle jab at Conor McGregor when he posted that picture with Machine Gun Kelly at the Stagecoach music festival. This was in connection to McGregor's spat with the rapper at the 2021 MTV Music Video Awards at the Barclays Center in New York.

The star-studded affair saw many A-list celebrities in attendance. McGregor and his wife Dee Devlin were among the attendees and ran into Colson Baker and his partner Megan Fox on the red carpet. It's worth noting that Fox is a longtime UFC fan and was in attendance at the UFC 229 event where Khabib Nurmagmedov defeated McGregor in a lightweight title fight before their teams got into a scuffle.

During their interaction at the MTV Awards function, McGregor seemingly had a disagreement with Baker and attempted to punch the rapper. He also flung a drink cup in his direction before security intervened. Both men were separated, and the matter was resolved without anyone getting hurt.

McGregor later denied knowing who Baker was and threw a verbal jab about not fighting rappers in public.