Michael Chandler has started his 2026 the same way he started his 2025: telling everyone he’s going to be fighting Conor McGregor sometime in the distant future.
“Iron Mike” made a guest appearance on the CBS / Paramount+ ‘New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash’ show last night, and he told host Bert Kreischer that a fight with McGregor at the White House was definitely maybe possibly going to happen. Well, it’s definitely the plan. Okay, maybe it’s a rumor, really.
“So Michael, tell me what you got coming up in the new year,” Kreischer asked Chandler on air. “And I think I know what you got coming up in the new year.”
“That’s the plan, let’s go!”
That’s been the plan since Chandler knocked out Tony Ferguson back in 2022 and cut an impressive promo demanding “The Notorious” for his next fight. The UFC was so impressed they set it up and even made Chandler and McGregor the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter season 31, but the fight itself never materialized. Chandler spent two years in limbo waiting before returning to action, only to lose back-to-back bouts against Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett.
Now Chandler is firmly back on the Conor McGregor fight wagon. Someone has to fight “The Notorious” and it might as well be him, right? Having him pump the fight on CBS as one of the first promotional moves tells you the UFC is all in on the idea. But as Michael has learned before, it’s a risky proposition to sit out wait for an opponent who many believe will never step foot in the cage to compete again.
