MICHAEL CHANDLER has insisted that his fight with Conor McGregor IS happening – after going on WWE to make his feelings known.
Talks to make the blockbuster bout have dragged on, leaving both UFC stars in the lurch.
Conor McGregor facing off with Michael Chandler
And UFC president Dana White has refused to even confirm whether McGregor will ever fight in the octagon again.
But Chandler has since spoken out and remains adamant that he will share the cage with the Irish icon.
He said on The MMA Hour: “Everybody, whether you love him or hate him, you’ve got to respect what [McGregor] has built, right?
“So it has complicated things. But either way, the Chandler train is continuing to move forward, and we’re not getting off this train.
“This is the fight that is happening. I can’t tell you a date, I can’t tell you a weight, but I can tell you the fight is happening.
“And I have way too many assurances that this fight is happening to think otherwise. So there’s some dates that make sense — obviously UFC 300 made a lot of sense, it really did.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, I thought that was what it was going to be. It makes a lot of sense.
“Why wouldn’t you want to headline the biggest card that UFC has ever put on? But ultimately, it’s not and we stay patient, we stay training, we stay ready.”
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McGregor, 35, has been out of the octagon since July 2021 when he broke his leg against Dustin Poirier, 34.
And he brazenly took to social media before the new year to announce he was fighting Chandler, 37, on June 29 at MIDDLEWEIGHT.
But White was quick to shut down the claim and instead revealed the fight could be delayed till winter.
Chandler has refused to give up on fighting McGregor and featured on WWE’s Monday Night Raw to call him out.
And the American revealed all on how the WWE cameo came about, with the pro wrestling promotion and the UFC fresh off their merge.
He said: “Two minutes before, they said, ‘Hey, they’re going to put the camera on you.’ I said, ‘Why don’t you give me that microphone?’
“And they said, ‘Hold on, let me run it up the flagpole real quick.’ And then about a minute later, they said, ‘Hey, you’re going on in a minute and you’re going to get the microphone if you want the microphone,’ and then magic happened…
“Less than five minutes [of notice]. There was nothing prepared. Nothing. I was thrown into the fire. Smacked myself a couple of times and then we went.
“There’s no video footage of me taking my shirt off, but Pat McAfee said I took my shirt off [after], so got the crowd into it, I was flexing on everybody.
“It was fun, man. It was a lot of fun, and man, I’m tired of waiting on Conor, so get his candy ass back to the octagon.”
Michael Chandler called out Conor McGregor live on WWE Raw