Michael Chandler reveals his experience of filming TUF with ‘performer’ Conor McGregor: ‘You gotta be on your toes’
Ahead of Season 30 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, UFC Lightweight Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA) has recently revealed what Conor McGregor (22-6 MMA) is really like on and off the camera.
The pair are set to go head-to-head as they coach rival teams on the upcoming season of TUF.
McGregor has not fought since he suffered a potentially career ending leg injury in the Octagon following his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier (29-7 MMA) at UFC 264.
The announcement of the new season brought much joy to McGregor fans knowing that it also came with the promise of the return of ‘The Notorious’.
However, unlike previous TUF series UFC fans will have to wait for the coaches to get their hands on each other. What is left now is for Conor McGregor to re-enter the USADA pool and wait for the go ahead, before making his much-anticipated return to the cage.
Although there is no confirmation on a date, the two are expected to collide in December later this year, in what promises to be an all-action affair.
Michael Chandler unveils what it is like to work with McGregor on TUF
Michael Chandler has expressed in a recent interview with Jon Anik that being allowed to be around the Irishman for a sustained period of time allowed him to “humanise” the UFC golden boy and see past the fame and the glamour that comes with him.
“Conor was the guy I wanted to fight when I came into the UFC,” Chandler stated.
“He’s a guy that I would compete against, he’s a guy who has built up this aura about him, this mystique about him, so to be actually in Vegas with him, in person with him, to be around the man, number one: I think it helped me humanize him a little more, he is just a guy with two arms and two legs, even though he is this big larger than life figure out there in the media.”
‘Iron Mike’ further exclaimed that during the filming of the show Conor McGregor was an unpredictable “performer”.
While the 34 year-old was jovial, there were also times where McGregor was his notoriously aggressive self, coming at Michael Chandler with his more vicious brand of trash talk without much provocation.
“It was definitely something that was eye-opening, because Conor is a performer,” Chandler explained.
“Conor is very good when those lights come on, he’s very good when the cameras come on. And you gotta be on your best game because you never know which Conor you’re gonna get.“
“Is he gonna be subdued, nice, kill-you-with-kindness Conor one day on Monday and then on Tuesday he comes in spitting venom, and you have no idea, you’ve just gotta be on your toes, on edge really, for the entire process.”
UFC fans will get to judge for themselves when the show premieres later this month.
