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Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor and former Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler are set to coach opposite each other on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 31.
The two coaches will then duke it out in the Octagon after the reality show’s 31st season concludes and Chandler believes their fight will draw two million pay-per-view buys.
“If you look at the numbers, I think 2 million [buys], it’s not just a possibility, I think it’s very achievable and very attainable,” Chandler said on The MMA Hour (transcript via Milan Ordonez of Bloody Elbow). “It’s hard for me to toot my own horn, but I think what I’ve created is a level of intrigue and mystique that when I show up on fight night and that cage door closes, all hell breaks loose and my foot is on the gas. I haven’t seen a brake pedal at all since I signed with the organization. Honestly, since I started fighting. It’s just continued to build and build and build. So you look at why this fight got made, Conor knows it’s going to do big numbers.”
This will be the first meeting between McGregor and Chandler, plus it will be McGregor’s first bout since suffering a broken ankle at UFC 264 in July of 2021.
Chandler believes the build up to the fight between himself and McGregor will also bring in the big pay-per-view numbers.
“Everybody is tuning in. Everybody is buying the pay-per-view for that night, that moment, that opportunity, and you couple that with the opportunity to be on ESPN the network for a month and a half, two months, every Tuesday night or whatever it’s going to be — people are going to be tuning in and the tension’s going to be palpable and the buildup and leadup to this thing, could be the biggest pay-per-view that we’ve ever seen. Obviously, I am a wishful thinker. I have a confident expectancy for myself to show up and build this thing. Conor knows how to build things. So we’re about to have a blast,” says Chandler.
