UFC 303: Michael Chandler Dreams of Shattering Khabib’s PPV Record vs. Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov did 2.4M pay-per-view buys in 2019. What will Michael Chandler and "The Notorious" bring in for the UFC this summer?
Michael Chandler is entering the biggest fight of his life and that's by a wide margin.
The former Bellator Lightweight Champion is no stranger to fighting superstars, having fought the likes of Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier, but none quite compare to the worldwide magnitude of Conor McGregor.
Chandler has been waiting on a fight with the UFC game-changer for almost two years now with the personalities first facing off as coaches on season 31 of 'The Ultimate Fighter.' Chandler's patience eventually paid off as he's set to fight McGregor in the UFC 303 headliner on June 29.
UFC 303 News: Michael Chandler Wants New UFC Title for Conor McGregor Fight
Former champ McGregor makes his MMA return after a three layoff that began with a broken leg suffered against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021. The 35 year-old looks to find his footing in his first win since a 2020 TKO of Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone.
Chandler, of course, has other ideas for the Irishman.
"There's a chance this is the greatest comeback in combat sports history by the sport's biggest star. That's why you have to buy the pay-per-view," Chandler said on Instagram Live (h/t: MMA Junkie). "Or, the other option, the more likely option is I absolutely molly wop this dude and put a beatdown of biblical proportions on him, and this is the last time you ever see Conor McGregor compete inside the Octagon."
With two months of promos to go, Chandler plans to break more than just McGregor's face on fight night. 'Iron' Mike wants to break the record for most pay-per-view buys in UFC history, currently held by Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, which reportedly sold 2.4M PPV's.
"This is a big fight, man. I would argue, and this is no disrespect... we wanna break that Khabib number, the 2.4" Chandler said on 'The MMA Hour'. "That was huge because of the animosity and the biggest Muslim athlete on the planet. It had all the makings of it doing that kind of number."
The highest pay-per-view buy rate since UFC 229 came in McGregor's last fight against Poirier at UFC 264. The box-office trilogy bout fell short of the record at 1.8M buys worldwide, taking the second place trophy in the UFC record books.
Reaching McGregor's and Nurmagomedov's previous record of 2.4M will be hard to beat, but given the UFC's insurmountable rise in recent years, Chandler thinks he and McGregor matched up can set a new high score.
"This one, Conor's comeback, one of the most violent guys in the sport," Chandler said of the upcoming fight. "We got 73 days to build this thing. I know the UFC wants to build it. I'm ready to go anywhere. I'm ready to go anywhere in this country. I'll fly to Ireland tomorrow. I will hop on a plane and fly to enemy territory tomorrow and get booed, get pints thrown at me, get everything thrown at me.
"That's not because I wanna be the villain or anything. I wanna take this thing by the horns, man. I've enjoyed it. I'm excited about it. There's some talks going on and we're still 73 days out. So, we still got a little bit of time, 9-10 weeks or whatever it is. So, there's gonna be some stuff happening and you know what, the UFC, the lead-up is gonna be a lot different than the announcement, which was a little tiny piece of paper [which Dana White read from to announce the fight at the UFC 300 post-fight presser]. I think that's a little bit like oxymoron, foreshadowing of how the next 73 days are gonna go."
How many pay-per-view's will UFC 303: McGregor vs. Chandler sell?
Stick with MMA Knockout for more daily coverage of the UFC, MMA, WWE, and AEW.