Michael Chandler blames himself for putting career on hold for Conor McGregor matchup

Michael Chandler is blaming nobody but himself after losing two years of his career chasing Conor McGregor.

Despite teasing a return on several occasions, the Irishman’s future in the sport remains unclear. Due to the uncertainty surrounding McGregor, Chandler has decided to look elsewhere for his next UFC appearance.

After letting go of his fight against ‘The Notorious’ after an almost two-year wait, Michael Chandler managed to get himself a huge replacement clash.

Looking at his new opportunity in a positive light, the former Bellator lightweight champion insisted that he holds no animosity toward McGregor after their bout failure.

“No [there’s no more ill-will for McGregor],” Chandler told Damon Martin. “Not anymore than I had at the beginning.”

“I don’t blame him for anything, I really don’t. The outsiders can look and say, ‘Man, he must hate Conor. Conor did this to him, Conor did that to him, the UFC did this to him.’ I did all this to myself.”

Chandler has pinned blame on himself for allowing his career to stagnate while waiting for Conor McGregor.

“At any given time, I could have jumped off the train and said [to the] UFC, let me fight someone else. At any given time, I could have said I am done with this.”

“At any given time, I could have said no to obligations and just changed course. I put myself in this position.”

“It was a position I wanted to be in. It was a decision I made…”

Related: Michael Chandler tells ‘unreliable’ Conor McGregor to get sober

However, the 38-year-old isn’t closing the door on a McGregor fight in the future.

“Do I want to punch Conor in the face and beat him to get my hands raised? Absolutely. But, I want to do it in the confines of competition.”

“We will do it at some point. No ill-will whatsoever. I caused this. I chose this path. And this path is now leading me to November 16th in the biggest fight of my life.”

Michael Chandler isn’t holding any grudges towards Conor McGregor over fight delays

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Michael Chandler now has his sights set on a huge co-main event matchup at UFC 309.

Chandler will run it back with Charles Oliveira with the winner likely going on to hold all the cards in the lightweight division.