Michael Chandler is finally going to have his ‘red-panty night’. The former Bellator champion was supposed to face Conor McGregor at UFC 296 last year after their contentious TUF 31 stint as rival head coaches. However, the bout kept getting delayed due to McGregor’s tussle with USADA and was postponed to sometime this year. McGregor finally announced on New Year’s Eve that he will be fighting the 37-year-old on June 29 on the UFC’s International Fight Week.

Shockingly, however, the ‘Notorious’ claimed it would be at the 185-pound middleweight division, 30 pounds heavier than the lightweight division Chandler fights and is ranked in the top 5 at. However, Chandler is undaunted by the challenge and feels the higher weight would not be an issue since both men weigh within a few pounds of each other naturally. In a recent video, he addressed how he was preparing for the fight as well as his bad experiences with weight cuts.

Michael Chandler details how he is preparing for the Conor McGregor fight

In a video uploaded on his official YouTube account, Michael Chandler addressed the higher weight class and how he was preparing for the fight. He said that he would approach this fight as he does for all his fights, except he would not be on a calorie deficit diet, as he does not have to cut as much weight for the McGregor fight.

The Missouri native also shared his experience of bad weight cuts often caused by injuries. He gave the example of the Charles Oliveira fight at UFC 262 in 2021 as one such instance before which he injured his Achilles tendon and ankle and was thus unable to do much cardio to cut the excess weight.

“Honestly during each camp, going from that 190 mark down to 155, I do it in a slow gradual progression. I will be honest with you, there’s been times where I haven’t had the best weight cuts. Maybe it was because of an injury I wasn’t able to do as much cardio, I can tell you this,” he said.

“I had a laceration on my Achilles tendon right before the Oliveira fight… and slipped on some tiles and I just absolutely cut the back of my ankle. So, therefore, I wasn’t able to do a ton of cardio… So, obviously, if you’re not able to do a lot of cardio, then you could possibly kind of mess up your weight cut,” he added. However, since he doesn’t have to worry about the weight cut, Chandler can focus on what he really wants: hurting Conor McGregor so badly that he retires.

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I want to break that man’s will: Chandler on McGregor

In another video, Chandler gave his prediction for the fight. He promised not only to end the fight early by knocking out McGregor in the first two rounds, but also to end his career by breaking his jaw and along with it, his will. This is not surprising, given the absolute disrespect McGregor has shown Chandler every step of the way, and his remarks show just how much it may have affected him.

“I finish Conor within the first two rounds and after that probably end his career. I want battlegrounds of epic proportions, I want to stand in the cage with that man, I want to break that man’s will, I want to break his jaw,” Chandler declared.

With the pair having a date to finally settle their bad blood, only the finer details need ironing out. Will the fight be at the ‘biggest baddest’ weight class for the pair? Or will Dana White force them to make the weight cut and fight at 170 lbs or 155 lbs? Either way, Chandler vs. McGregor is bound to have the fans out of their seats from the opening bell.