After spending the last 19 months waiting to fight Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler is moving on – at least for now.
Chandler has agreed to a rematch with former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, UFC CEO Dana White said Friday, according to Barstool Sports’ Robbie Fox. The fight will serve as the five-round co-main event at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
A highly anticipated bout between Chandler and McGregor was scheduled to headline UFC 303 in June, but McGregor withdrew just two weeks before the event after suffering a broken toe in training. The matchup had been in the works since February 2023 when McGregor and Chandler were announced as the coaches for “The Ultimate Fighter 31.”
Earlier this week, White said McGregor’s return was being targeted for “early 2025.” But the UFC CEO said Friday that Chandler was “done waiting” for the Irishman and wanted to fight someone else.
White isn’t ruling out the possibility of McGregor and Chandler fighting in 2025, per Fox.
McGregor called out Chandler in a post on X after the latter agreed to face Oliveira. McGregor hasn’t competed in MMA since breaking his leg in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.
For now, Chandler resets his focus to Oliveira. The two fought for the vacant lightweight championship in the UFC 262 main event in May 2021, just months after Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from MMA and relinquished the title. Oliveira knocked out Chandler in the second round to become the new champion.
Chandler said Friday he “took a quick, little detour” to “chase” a fight with McGregor, but now he plans to make a lightweight title run starting with the Oliveira rematch.
“I beat Charles Oliveira, I become the No. 1 contender,” Chandler said in a video on his YouTube channel. “I beat Charles Oliveira, I can choose to go fight (lightweight champion) Islam (Makhachev) or Arman (Tsarukyan). I believe it’s gonna be Islam.
“Or if Conor can finally get his house in order and put together a training camp and show up to a fight, maybe I go fight Conor and we finish “‘The Ultimate Fighter 31.'”
Oliveira defended the belt once against Poirier in December 2021 and then finished Justin Gaethje in a May 2022 non-title bout after missing weight and being stripped of the championship. Oliveira fought Makhachev for the vacant title in October 2022 but suffered a second-round submission loss.
“Do Bronx” is 1-1 since the Makhachev fight, earning a knockout win over Beneil Dariush and most recently suffering a split-decision loss to No. 1-ranked contender Tsarukyan at UFC 300 in April. Makhachev is expected to defend the 155-pound title against Tsarukyan next, though a date hasn’t been finalized.
Chandler spent the better part of the last two years waiting for McGregor and, as a result, hasn’t stepped into the Octagon since a submission loss to Poirier in November 2022. The 38-year-old is 2-3 since leaving Bellator for the UFC in 2020.
UFC 309 is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and former champ Stipe Miocic.
