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For over a year, UFC star Michael Chandler has been singularly focused on a fight with Conor McGregor.
But after repeated obstacles have prevented the fight from coming to fruition, Chandler now wonders if he even deserves the fight at all.
Injuries and McGregor’s reluctance to re-enter the UFC’s now non-existent USADA drug testing pool have delayed the fight several times.
Michael Chandler Had Doubts About Whether He Deserves Conor McGregor Fight
After the latest round of delays, highlighted by a broken toe suffered by McGregor in training, Chandler says he’s beginning to have some serious doubts.
“He [my inner voice] does not think I deserve this fight but I do,” Chandler said in a recent interview with the Action Network. “He never would have, man, he never would have, and I think we all have that little guy or that little gal inside of us, and it’s okay to have them. I think it’s also okay to open up about it. It seems more genuine, and it’s more authentic to speak about your struggles, to speak about your shortcomings, to speak about your doubts. If you act like you are impenetrable and you’re bulletproof, it’s an unattainable psychology.”
But Chandler, 38, says he’s since found a way to combat those voices.
“I do hear the doubters, and I do hear the naysayers, and I do hear the haters, of course,” he said. “We just keep on moving forward, and even though that little guy from that little town doesn’t believe that we were created to create this crazy life that we have, we just pat them on the back and say, it’s okay. Just keep on coming. We’re gonna keep on climbing.”
Unfortunately for Chandler and the UFC, it takes two to tango. McGregor does not seem like he’s in a particularly big hurry to get back in the case.
The Irishman has not fought in over three years and has not won a fight since January of 2020. By the time he and Chandler step in the cage (if they step in the cage), it will have been over five years since his last UFC victory.