‘We’ll Fight Like Real Men’

Seeing a long-anticipated grudge match with ex-champion, Conor McGregor shelved late last month, Michael Chandler appears to be welcoming all comers next – now offering to take on Nate Diaz at the Las Vegas Sphere in the main event of UFC 306.

Chandler, who currently holds the number six ranked lightweight challenger, has been sidelined for the last two years from the Octagon, dropping a third round rear-naked choke submission defeat to Dustin Poirier at Madison Square Garden back in 2022.

As for Diaz, the UFC veteran made his return to combat sports over the course of last weekend in his native California, taking on fellow promotional alum, Jorge Masvidal in a professional boxing rematch, taking home a close majority decision win over the course of 10 rounds in Anaheim. 

And remaining committed in his pursuit to take on McGregor following his exit from a UFC 303 comeback at the end of last month, Chandler claimed he was confident a grudge match with the Dubliner will happen “quicker” than critics think.

“It’s a bitter sweet weekend, but we’re having a good time, and we should hopefully be off hiatus quicker than people think,” Michael Chandler said. “I’ll tell you what, I do love to fight, but I am a very patient man. And luckily, my life is such that I have done so many things outside of just fighting that I’ve been able to sit out, be patient, still got work outside fighting. [I] stayed busy the last year and a half, and this one didn’t come to fruition.”

“We’re gonna stay patient – we’re not gonna let him (Conor McGregor) off the hook,” Michael Chandler explained. “I like to say, ‘We’re not gonna let him off the hook.’ Talks are happening between me and the UFC, I’m meeting with them tonight actually. I know Conor is gonna be ready to come back soon, ‘cause it’s just a pinky toe {injury), so we’ll see.”

Michael Chandler offers to fight Nate Diaz

However, with a bout still stuck on skids amid McGregor’s latest family vacation to Switzerland, Chandler has offered to take on Diaz in a massive showdown at Noche UFC in two months time.

“Sit down, Ron…,” Michael Chandler replied to a user on his official X account. “Better idea – me and @NateDiaz209 fight like two men while Conor sits on a yacht and watches on PPV in his slippers. #ufcnoche #riyadhseason”