Conor McGregor seems supremely confident that his first fight back in five years is going to take place at the UFC White House card with plans to finally settle some unfinished business against Michael
Chandler.
While the actual matchmaking for the event isn’t supposed to start until next year, UFC CEO Dana White has stated publicly that he believes McGregor is serious about fighting again, especially with the chance to headline one of the biggest cards of all time. But is McGregor vs. Chandler really the fight to make for the top spot on such a historic, once-in-a-lifetime event?
UFC legend Matt Brown admits he wouldn’t be surprised whatsoever to see it happen.
“I guess the thing with Conor is it going to draw the interest that we think it would?” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “We would all talk about it him fighting but Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor is a completely irrelevant fight. Right? There’s no relevance whatsoever. Does nothing other than I guess sell tickets maybe?”
When it comes to potential title fights or even top 10 rankings, it’s tough to argue against Brown’s logic considering McGregor and Chandler have a combined 3-7 record over their past 10 fights. One of those wins came from McGregor when he beat Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division UFC champion nearly a decade ago due to his long periods of inactivity.
Meanwhile, Jon Jones has stated that he also wants to headline the same card, but White has been hesitant to commit to that possibility due to the former UFC heavyweight champion’s history where he’s forced numerous cards and fights to get changed or cancelled. From arrests to injuries and even last-minute opponent changes, Jones has definitely caused plenty of chaos during his career.
That said, Brown knows Jones returning and potentially fighting someone like current UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall would be monumental and far more meaningful than McGregor making his return. But it may not matter to the UFC if the promotion is seeking to make one of the most watched cards of all-time.
“Jon Jones brings a lot to the table,” Brown said. “The GOAT, and he’d be fighting for a title, I’m sure, against Tom Aspinall. Assuming that Aspinall beats Ciryl Gane, too. This fight hasn’t happened yet. That could be a game changer, too.
“If you want an American, you’ve got to go with Jon Jones. There’s no one else that I can think of that would be legitimate enough. But if you’re going the Conor McGregor route, you’re talking about kind of more or less irrelevant fights, you’re going to bring in Ronda Rousey, now you’ve got two irrelevant fights. You’re literally just selling because of star power. For us hardcore fans, long-term, hardcore serious fans, that doesn’t bring any interest to me at all. Now Jon Jones fighting, particularly Tom Aspinall assuming he goes out and beats [Ciryl] Gane, that’s interesting.”
Given the attention already being paid to the UFC going to the White House for a fight card, Brown expects that the organization is going to choose the spectacle, which might actually lead to McGregor making his return for the historic event.
“Being that it is probably a once in a lifetime thing that will ever happen, they’re probably going to go the spectacle route,” Brown said. “They want it to be the biggest, most memorable card in history, and I think that I’m OK with that.
“The fact that Conor got the UFC to where it is. You’ve got to give respect where it’s due. Again, for us, it’s not going to excite me. I don’t care to watch Conor and Chandler fight. It’s not that great to me honestly.”
McGregor and Chandler fighting likely holds no weight when it comes to rankings or title implications, especially if they meet at welterweight, which was the plan when they were previously scheduled to clash.
Ultimately, the winner and loser are probably in the same position before and after the fight, but Brown doesn’t buy that the UFC really cares much about that playing a part in matchmaking for the White House card.
Brown knows the UFC wants to appeal to the largest audience possible, and like it or not, McGregor vs. Chandler offers that kind of appeal and the aftermath probably doesn’t matter.
“Do they care if we talk about it Monday if they get 20 million viewers or 10 million or whatever crazy number of viewers?” Brown argued. “Do they really care if we talk about it Monday?
“What they care about is the construction worker goes to Monday to talk to his buddies about it. Not us that talk about the sport, not that we talk about it, they don’t give a f*ck about us.”
For all the complaints about McGregor returning from a five-year long absence and headlining a card as huge as the one planned at the White House, Brown understands why the UFC is interested.
McGregor remains the biggest star in the history of the sport and putting him in the main event at the White House draws eyeballs. Nothing else probably compares so Brown can’t exactly complain when it comes to the UFC’s decision on this situation.
“If I’m Dana, I do the same thing,” Brown said. “It’s kind of a pick ‘em fight so it makes it a little bit interesting on that part. All the Americans can get behind Chandler and Conor will love that. So that will go a long way with the media and the press and everything.
“In terms of spectacle, it’s got all the makings of that, but again just for us, we’re not going to care. We’re just not going to care. Hopefully there’s a good undercard that makes us care.”
