Following Conor McGregor’s withdrawal from UFC 303, fans and several respected names in the MMA world claimed that Michael Chandler should move on from the matchup, but the Irishman has disputed the claims.

Just a few weeks out from the UFC 303 main event on June 29, UFC CEO, Dana White, announced that Conor McGregor was out of his eagerly anticipated comeback fight against Michael Chandler, due to an injury.

After having already sat out on the sidelines for a few years waiting for the fight against ‘The Notorious’ – the two coached against each other on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter – several respected names in the sport have claimed that Chandler should give up on waiting for the Irishman.

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Conor McGregor disputes claims that Chandler should move on from possible fight

Former UFC two-weight world champion, Daniel Cormier, recently claimed that the 38-year-old should ‘move off’ from the possible fight, following McGregor’s withdrawal.

Not only that, but Chandler hinted recently online, that he is eyeing up a fight against the current ‘BMF’ champion, Max Holloway.

Despite that, McGregor has disputed the claims from the MMA world that Chandler should move on, stating that it would take him ’10 fights’ to make the same amount of money that he is set to make by fighting the former double champion.

“Chandler is getting paid 10x of what his contract states for other fights,” McGregor claimed in a statement on X. “Meaning he would need to fight 10 fights to make what he would make in this one. I’m the one,”

The 38-year-old hasn’t fought since 2022, when he was beaten by Dustin Poirier at UFC 281. Following his signing with the promotion in 2021, ‘Iron’ fought three times in his rookie year, and twice in 2022.

“For those saying he could have fought two or three times by now etc. He’d need 10 to break even with this cheque,” the Irishman continued.

Chandler pokes at McGregor following recent public outing

This past weekend, ‘The Notorious’ made an appearance at Bellator Dublin to support a few of his Irish teammates.

During an interview with SevereMMA McGregor confirmed that the injury he suffered was a broken toe, and he fears he made matters worse by undergoing Stem Cell therapy.

Despite that, the 35-year-old rocked up in notorious fashion, wearing a pair of slippers, as he still isn’t able to put his foot into a shoe because of the swelling on his toe.

With Bellator’s show taking place at the 3Arena, the same arena that was scheduled to play host to a press conference between McGregor and Chandler, the 38-year-old jabbed at the Irishman for finally making it to the arena.

“Speaking of showing up to events, glad you finally made it to the 3Arena where the press conference was supposed to be on June 3rd. Sweet slippers. Who’s the Bellator tick now?” Chandler jabbed on X.

During the filming of The Ultimate Fighter, McGregor referred to the former Bellator champion as a ‘Bellator tick’, with Chandler repaying the insult.