Report: Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler Fight 'Still the Plan' for UFC 300
December 29, 2023
UFC has already announced three bouts for UFC 300, but the main event remains up in the air right now.
Per MMA Fighting's Damon Martin, the much-anticipated showdown between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler is "still the plan" for the April 13 show, but a deal hasn't been finalized yet.
Chandler seems to be tired of waiting on UFC and McGregor to figure things out, based on his recent social-media activity.
Michael Chandler @MikeChandlerMMAI heard there was a meeting in Abu Dhabi or Dubai tonight…hopefully Dana can convince <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheNotoriousMMA</a> to be a man of his word…but we all make claims we can't back up at times…it's human nature…I don't fault him for it.
McGregor shot back in a now-deleted post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that was critical of Chandler being a box-office draw: "Chandler-[Renato] Moicano — now there is a [UFC] 300 main event!"
There was an expectation that McGregor and Chandler would fight before the end of 2023. UFC president Dana White said in February as part of the original announcement when they were revealed as hosts for the new season of The Ultimate Fighter the plan was for the two starts to step into the octagon, but he didn't provide a date or location.
UFC @ufcMcGREGOR vs CHANDLER IS CONFIRMED!!<a href="https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheNotoriousMMA</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeChandlerMMA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeChandlerMMA</a> will officially coach the next season of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TUF31?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TUF31</a>! <a href="https://t.co/effjf0Rg2M">pic.twitter.com/effjf0Rg2M</a>
Chandler told ESPN's Brett Okamoto (h/t ESPN's Marc Raimondi) it "would make the most sense" to have the fight in September since The Ultimate Fighter season wrapped up on Aug. 15.
McGregor's status in the United States Anti-Doping Agency testing pool complicated matters. He didn't re-enter the pool until Oct. 8 after removing himself from it in 2021 following the leg injury he suffered against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
USADA rules require fighters to spend at least six months in the testing pool and return two negative drug tests before they are allowed to compete.
As part of USADA's announcement that McGregor re-entered the testing pool, it also stated its partnership with UFC was ending effective Jan. 1, 2024, because of an "untenable" situation based on the policy that he wouldn't be eligible to fight for at least six months.
White has said UFC will hire an independent company to handle its drug testing.
The current card for UFC 300 features Jiří Procházka vs. Aleksandar Rakić, Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar and Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage.
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