Michael Chandler has shown fans that patience is a virtue as his highly anticipated bout against Conor McGregor has come to fruition.
The contest between the two was finally made official in UFC CEO’s Dana White post-UFC 300 press conference, with the fight set to take place at UFC 303 on June 29.
The morning after the contest was announced, Chandler spoke with The Mac Life’s Oscar Willis to discuss all things McGregor vs. Chandler. There had been much speculation as to what weight it would take place at, with 155lbs, 170lbs and even 185lbs all being mentioned as speculation grew. During the official announcement White revealed that the pair will face off at 170lbs, which Chandler believes is the optimum weight for him to compete at against McGregor. He said:
“I think 170 is perfect. 155 is not easy to make so fighting at 170 is going to be kind of a perfect camp. Honestly, I weigh about 190. Getting down to 170 is kind of going to be easy compared to 155, obviously. So, I think I'll compete phenomenally there. I'm still going to do the exact same camp. I'm still going to get my weight similar to where I would be at 155; I just won't dehydrate myself at the end. So, I want to stay big, I want to stay strong, want to stay explosive. So, I think 170lbs is going to be perfect.”
In waiting for the McGregor bout, Chandler will have found himself out of action for 18 months by the time the fight rolls around. Many fans questioned why the 37-year-old wouldn’t look to face someone else but as ‘Iron’ explained, he was confident that the bout would materialize but understands why fans may have questioned his decision.
“I mean, that was the thing and I've said this, I had too much reassurance behind the scenes that this fight was going to happen. Yeah maybe, maybe we were going to get done with The Ultimate Fighter in August and we were hopefully going to fight in September here. That didn't happen. In December, didn't happen then. Obviously, January, April or April 13th, at UFC 300 last night, there was a bunch of different dates that it could have happened. So I get it. But no, I mean, I knew this was the fight that I wanted. This is a fight that Conor and I have agreed to. We already did The Ultimate Fighter, If me and Conor don't fight, The Ultimate Fighter means nothing, right?
“Traditionally, that's the coaches fight at the end of The Ultimate Fighter so we still have that. And now we got a fight going and we've got two dudes who are about to take each other's head off. And I knew all along that this was going to happen.”
In terms of a prediction for how the fight plays out, Chandler has long maintained he will be able to stop ‘The Notorious’ in the second round and although unsure how the finish will present itself, the number 7 ranked Lightweight is still confident that he will get the job done within 10 minutes.
“I still see the outcome the same way. I think I'll put him on his back foot in the first round, make him second guess himself in the first round, start drowning him in the first round and finish him in the second. I don't know if it's gonna be a K.O. or a choke. Make him give up his back, his neck but I think it can be a second round finish, and that has not changed, that is my Mystic Mike predication.”
Watch his full interview with The Mac Life, below:
