Michael Chandler remains open to Conor McGregor UFC fight in December: 'Let's do it' | News, results, highlights, stats and rumors

Despite UFC President Dana White's recent statement that Conor McGregor will not fight in 2024, Michael Chandler remains confident that his postponed fight against McGregor can still take place in December.

In an interview with TMZ Sports this week, Chandler said: “If [Conor and I] can fight in December, let's do it. I'm in. But the fact is I've stayed ready since I left training camp for the fight on June 29th, and I remain ready to take a fight. Any fight, if that fight doesn't look like it's going to happen in December.”

Chandler added: “From what I understand, there are some very big prospects in that fight by the end of the year. And Conor is ready, I'm ready. Let's sign on the dotted line!”

McGregor and Chandler were originally scheduled to face each other at UFC 303 on June 29, but McGregor suffered a broken toe during training, forcing the fight to be postponed.

According to ESPN’s Andreas Hale, White was asked this week if there were plans to reschedule McGregor vs. Chandler this year, to which he replied: “We have spoken and [McGregor] wants to fight. We'll find out. Not this year. He's not going to fight this year.”

McGregor expressed a different opinion in a now-deleted post on X, writing: “Ah Dana, December is the date. Bring home the calendar year with a winning event! Come on, what's the point? I'm going up next month to prepare. December! Tell Dana and UFC we want December! We deserve December!”

McGregor, 36, is one of the biggest stars in UFC history, but he hasn't fought since UFC 264 over three years ago.

McGregor suffered a broken leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier and had a long road back to the Octagon, which became even longer when his return fight against Chandler had to be postponed.

Although McGregor lost three of his last four fights before breaking his leg, he continues to be a huge crowd-puller and would likely draw a huge crowd on the UFC's pay-per-view numbers if he returned.

While the 22-6 McGregor is a former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, the 38-year-old Chandler has not won a title since moving from Bellator to UFC in 2021.

Like McGregor, 23-8 combat athlete Chandler has lost three of his last four fights, but a win over McGregor would potentially lead to a career renaissance and represent the biggest win of his career.

However, Chandler's comments suggest that he is open to other fights, which in turn suggests that the fight with McGregor could be in jeopardy if the UFC does not officially rescheduled it soon.