‘Selfish’ UFC Should Compensate Michael Chandler For Stalled-Out Conor McGregor Fight

Boxing legend Paulie Malignaggi thinks the UFC should compensate Michael Chandler for the last two years he sat on the sidelines waiting for a fight that was never going to happen.

At 38 years old, Chandler’s window to compete at the highest level is closing quickly. Unfortunately, the former Bellator champion spent the last couple of years banking on a fight with Irish megastar Conor McGregor. The two superstars coached opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter last year, but it was almost a year before they were finally booked to headline an event in Las Vegas.

Sadly, their UFC 303 scrap never came to fruition after McGregor bowed out of the bout weeks away from fight night due to, of all things, a broken pinky toe.

Frustrated, Chandler finally decided to move on, booking a rematch with former UFC lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden. And while ‘Iron’ is hopeful that his long-awaited fight with ‘Mystic Mac’ will still happen, there are those who think the UFC should pay him for all the time he spent sitting around instead of making the most of his twilight years in the fight game.

“I’d love for Chandler to be financially rewarded for waiting but I doubt it,” Malignaggi said in a recent interview with CanadaCasino.ca. “Who’s going to reward him? The UFC is run by the most selfish people. They underpay the fighters who fight — imagine how they treat the fighters who don’t. He should be compensated, but I’m not sure how they’d handle that. I think he deserves it, but he’s been waiting on the sidelines for this fight, and it’s just not going to happen for him.

“I feel for Chandler. Fighting is a tough way to make a living. It’s not easy. You get damaged, your best years pass by, and you can’t go back to reach the levels you want. When you get to the point where your best years are behind you, you’d hope for a big payday to make the rest of your life more comfortable. This struggle is common in combat sports” (h/t MMA News).

Michael Chandler places the blame on his shoulders

While Malignaggi certainly makes a point, Michael Chandler has repeatedly accepted responsibility for his actions, noting that at any time he could have called up the UFC and asked for a fight instead of holding out for his ‘red panty night’ against McGregor.

“No [there’s no more ill-will for McGregor],” Chandler told MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin. “Not any more 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.”

With McGregor still contracted for two more fights inside the Octagon, here’s to hoping that Chandler will still get the chance to cash a multi-million dollar check against the Irishman before wrapping up his mixed martial arts career.