Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor are opposing coaches on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter. As is the tradition of the series, the pair will clash in the octagon after the season ends. While no date or venue has been announced for the bout, both fighters have been adamant that it will in fact take place.
Chandler recently shared a video of his son Hap's drawing of the pair as stick figures, facing one another. The No.5-ranked lightweight tweeted the video and captioned the post:
"Where you at Konner Mgrer?"
Check out the video of Michael Chandler's son's drawing below:
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While Chandler and McGregor have both been clear in their intentions to face one another, fans have questioned whether the bout will actually take place. 'The Notorious' has not been tested by the United States Anti-Doping Agency since breaking his leg at UFC 264 in July 2021.
It remains unclear if he has re-entered the USADA testing pool. However, he will need to be in the pool for six months and submit two clean samples in order to compete. If the former double champ is intent on returning to action this year, he will need to enter the pool sometime this week as the final pay-per-view event of 2023 will take place on December 16.
The last episode of The Ultimate Fighter is set to air on August 15.
Michael Chandler describes relationship with Conor McGregor
Michael Chandler has been announced as Conor McGregor's opponent for his highly-anticipated return to the octagon. Speaking on his YouTube channel, 'Iron' discussed his relationship with the biggest star in mixed martial arts, stating:
"Conor McGregor and I, I think have a pretty good relationship. As good of a relationship as you can for a guy whose face you want to rip off. He is a tough competitor. He is a guy who is confident and believes in himself more than anybody that you may see out there. That's how he carries himself, that is his brand, that is 'Notorious' Conor McGregor, that is his full-on persona."
Chandler continued:
"Ultimately, it all boils down to there's a lot of respect between Conor and I, but that doesn't mean that we have to like each other at every turn. We could have a really great day and then the next day it's like, 'hey man, it's fight day. Don't talk to me. Hey man, I’m dealing with this with my guy, don't talk to me.'"
Check out Michael Chandler's full comments about Conor McGregor below (starting at the 35:45 mark):
The No.5-ranked lightweight noted that despite their public war of words, the two fighters have plenty of respect for one another.