Michael Chandler can hope all he wants, but UFC CEO and President Dana White claims a fight between Chandler and Conor McGregor is dead in the water.
A fight between Chandler and McGregor has been nearly three years in the making now, stretching back to when the pair faced off as opposing coaches on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Chandler recently appeared on CBS as part of the network's New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash show to ring in 2026 and promote the UFC's new partnership with Paramount. As part of his time there, Chandler claimed that things were looking up for a fight with McGregor to finally happen -- and happen at the UFC's card on the White House lawn in June.
In a new interview with Complex, however, White suggested that the fight is no longer possible.
Dana White Says No Shot To Conor McGregor Vs. Michael Chandler At UFC White House
"I mean, that was a couple years ago," White said. "No."
Despite promotion that the two would face off at the end of TUF 31, the year 2023 came and went without a hint of a matchup announcement.
Finally, at the UFC 300 post-fight press conference, White announced that the two would face off in the main event of UFC 303. The fight went up in smoke less than a month before the event, however, due to a toe injury suffered by McGregor.
Since then, no fight announcement has been made, and Chandler has gone on to lose to Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett at UFC 309 and UFC 314, respectively.
Since the first announcement of the UFC White House card this past summer, McGregor has publicly advocated to make his UFC return at the event, going as far as to re-join the UFC's drug testing pool.
McGregor has not fought in the UFC since losing his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.