“This is what always happens: you guys call me, ask me to talk about Islam, and then suddenly there are headlines, ‘Chandler thinks he can beat Islam’, and I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t say that. ‘,” said Chandler, answering questions from reporters in Las Vegas. “I have a lot of respect for Islam. Islam beat Charles Oliveira and then beat Alex Volkanovski
“I bet on Volkanovski, but once again I was wrong, I blew stupidity. I was wrong about Makhachev. We were not sure, but he turned out to be who he claimed to be – he is rightfully our champion.
“I stand my ground and believe that I have a good chance against Makhachev, because we fighters have no right to think otherwise – we must believe that we can beat anyone. Islam is the rightful champion, he proved it, so I’m going to go out, destroy Conor, and then maybe fight Makhachev.”
Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor are currently filming the thirty-first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and their coaching bout is rumored to be scheduled for September of this year.