The fighting community experienced one of the biggest heartbreaks when Conor McGregor pulled out of his fight against Michael Chandler at UFC 303. Needless to say, the entire world was excited to watch the Irishman return and finish off his remaining 2 fights under the current contract with the UFC. However, a broken pinky toe made us all wake up to reality. Uncertainty crawled in, and the MMA world now seems convinced that there was no way McGregor would ever return anymore. But Chandler is apparently stuck with the McGregor fight, even after losing two back-to-back bouts.

For the unversed, ‘Iron’ didn’t really keep waiting for McGregor’s uncertain return. He fought and lost against Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett. In the meantime, the former UFC double champion expressed that he had attained almost everything that the MMA world had to offer him. On Saint Patrick’s Day, McGregor declared, “My heart bleeds for my country right now. There’s a lot of stuff going on at home I’m happy with what I’ve done. There’s something else for me that’s in my gut right now, and that’s where I’m going, so we’ll see. Greatness does not rush. My comeback will be slated as the greatest comeback of all time, so it has to be right. And right now Ireland is in my thoughts.”

These words arguably put a full stop to the talks about McGregor’s return. But Chandler wasn’t keeping quiet. He called out the Irishman on Threads. He wrote, “Conor!!!!!” and then, in a separate thread, he dropped a date. The text read, “1/24/26.” Of course, there are no confirmations from Dana White and Co. regarding the bout. And later on, during a conversation with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, ‘Iron’ revealed the significance of the date. Chandler actually celebrates his wedding anniversary on 24 January. And coincidentally, 24 January 2026 is a Saturday. 

Soon, the former Bellator champion’s words found their way on X, as Championship Rounds shared the screenshots on their profile. And right after the words found their way to the social media platform, fight fans took control of the comments section. Let’s see what they had to say. 

Fans don’t want Michael Chandler chasing after Conor McGregor anymore

Most of the fans believed that it was worthless for Chandler to talk about anything regarding McGregor. After all, ‘Mystic Mac’ showed no interest in the bout. Instead, he kept his focus on his businesses and celebrated the Black Forge FC’s AUL/UCFL victory. One of the fans decided to give ‘Iron’ a reality check and wrote, “Chandler gotta let it go…” Another fan claimed, “Chandlers whole career is chasing a Conor fight.” One more fan decided to bring in a bit of mockery. The comment read, “is that when Conor will admit he retired?”

Some of the fans pointed out that instead of McGregor, Chandler can go up against Benoit Saint-Danis. The comment read, “Give it up man youre fighting bsd next.” Meanwhile, many others claimed that Chandler vs McGregor was simply not happening. One fan wrote, “Just stop. It’s not happening.” Another fan pointed out, “Thats just sad at this point to be honest.”

And the interest regarding the bout was also on the decline. One of the comments read, “I’m gonna have zero interest in that fight by that time. I’ve already got close to zero interest.” But there was one thing that we ought to note. ‘The Notorious’ has uploaded quite a few training videos on his Instagram profile. Weighing in on this, one fan wrote, “Chandler bout to get worked if this ever happens. He looks awful lately and Conor training.” But if Chandler kept losing his next bouts, the outcome was evident. A fan commented, “Michael has 1 or 2 fights left before uncle Dana cuts him loose.”

Do you think the fight between Chandler and McGregor will ever materialize? What are your thoughts on ‘Iron’ relentlessly chasing a fight against ‘The Notorious’? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.