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Michael Chandler shuts down Conor McGregor UFC 329 injury conspiracy theories: ‘He’s not a quitter’

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3 months ago

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Michael Chandler shuts down Conor McGregor UFC 329 injury conspiracy theories: ‘He’s not a quitter’

Michael Chandler has had his eye on Conor McGregor for years and doesn't think there's anything nefarious about what went down in his UFC 329 comeback fight.

McGregor left fans sorely disappointed this Saturday when his main event rematch with Max Holloway ended in just 69 seconds due to McGregor suffering a leg injury. The bout marked McGregor's first UFC fight since 2021 and the crowd at T-Mobile Arena reacted in stunned silence when the bout was suddenly waved off.

In the aftermath of the controversial ending, there has been widespread speculation as to whether McGregor had a pre-existing injury and, if so, were UFC officials aware that McGregor was not in condition to compete. Chandler is one of many fighters jumping to McGregor's defense and he shared his thoughts in a video posted to Instagram.

“A guy like Conor who comes out in the first three seconds, jumps across the cage, turns his body, throws a kick, lands weird, leg buckles,†Chandler said. “Then throws another kick, leg buckles. Throw a punch, leg buckles, and everybody's trying to figure out was Conor injured prior to the fight? Did Conor just show up and hoodwink everybody and he just showed up for a paycheck and doesn't care who he hurts in the process?

“I would be absolutely surprised, like the most surprised person on the planet if Conor just showed up for a paycheck, limped in there, and said, ‘I don't care. I'm going to give you guys one minute, shave my head into a mohawk, show up, do the intros, and then just bow out one minute later. You can say what you want about Conor, Conor's mistakes are well-documented, Conor's shortcomings are well-documented over the past 15 years in this sport. One thing he is not, he's not a quitter. One thing he is not, is a bamboozler.â€

Chandler also doubts the UFC would allow a severely compromised McGregor just to draw viewers in for what turned out to be a non-fight.

“The UFC is not the type of organization that's going to have conversations behind closed doors and say, ‘Hey, it's all good, man. We're going to get everybody hooked in on this Paramount stream and then you're going to bounce out one minute in,'†Chandler said. “That's just not what they do, it's not how they operate business.â€

The 38-year-old McGregor has been out of action since July 2021, when he broke his leg in a trilogy bout against longtime rival Dustin Poirier. In recent months, the former two-division UFC champion had made multiple public declarations regarding his dedication to religion and a rededication to training and preparing for a comeback.

Chandler pointed out that fighters are susceptible to all kinds of injuries once the cage door closes and that McGregor's disastrous opening gambit wasn't out of character for him.

“The fact of the matter is the body is a crazy thing and it can handle a lot,†Chandler said. “It can handle a lot of damage, it can handle a lot of contortion, and then at other times you look at the body and you see the way bodies react or how results happen in a fight and it looks as though a guy who's 100 percent durable in the past and then takes one little misstep and all of a sudden a body part crumbles or the equilibrium goes away.

“What I'm getting at is the body is unpredictable and every fight is unpredictable and if you look at Conor—because I've had a lot of people say, ‘Man, why would Conor do that? He came out like an idiot, jumped across the cage and threw a kick.'—Conor always does that. Every single fight. When I was training to fight him, I was expecting within the first five minutes, some kind of spinning wheel kick, some type of flying knee, some type of flying Superman punch. He did the Superman punch against ‘Cowboy' Cerrone within the first five seconds. Multiple fights within the first five seconds he's done a spinning wheel kick at the very beginning. Stalking a guy, getting him on the back foot, immediately throwing something crazy to get a guy thinking and remembering that hey, you're in the octagon with Conor McGregor, and Conor McGregor is a dominant human being. That's what he's trying to establish at the very beginning.â€

Previously, the closest McGregor came to a comeback fight was in 2024, when he was scheduled to fight Chandler at UFC 303. Chandler had been chasing a McGregor matchup for years and after they filmed a season of The Ultimate Fighter on which they served as opposing coaches, it appeared they would finally share the octagon. Unfortunately for Chandler, McGregor suffered a toe injury that removed him from UFC 303 and delayed his comeback another two years.

Regardless of McGregor's many outside-of-the-cage transgressions, Chandler believes when it comes to fighting, McGregor is strictly professional.

“I get the conspiracy theories, I get that people are upset,†Chandler said. “Conor's not the type of guy to do that. Say what you want about him, but he's a man of honor and integrity when it comes to the confines of competition and even trying to book fights.

“I believe he wants to fight me. I believe he tried to fight me. I believe he wanted to fight me, I believe that's how the negotiations went, and other plans were made. But the honor and the integrity of wanting to stick to and be a man of his word since he pulled out of that fight back in 2024, International Fight Week against me, I think he wanted to actually be a man of his word and see through to putting his name on that dotted line that had my name on it. So when it comes to the confines of competition, the dude would not just show up to get a paycheck.â€

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UFC 332: 'Silva vs. Wang' Live Results and Highlights

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2 hours ago

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October 3, 2026

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UFC 332: 'Silva vs. Wang' Live Results and Highlights
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Ciryl Gane shares first words since Tom Aspinall vacated UFC heavyweight title amid latest eye setback

The Octagon returns to Salt Lake City for tonight's UFC 332 event, a 14-bout fight card headlined by Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong.

Silva and Cong will be competing for the vacant women's flyweight title, this after longtime champion Valentina Shevchenko was forced to vacate the belt due to injury.

Natalia Silva (20-5-1 MMA) will enter the contest sporting a 14-fight winning streak, with her most recent Octagon victory coming over Rose Namajunas this past January at UFC 324. The 29-year-old Brazilian has not tasted defeat since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Marina Rodriguez way back in December of 2017.

Meanwhile, Wang Cong (10-1 MMA) currently boasts a four-fight winning streak, with her most recent victory coming over Tracy Cortez this past July at UFC 329. ‘The Joker' suffered her lone career loss to Gabriella Fernandes via technical submission back in November of 2024.

UFC 332 is co-headlined by a men's bantamweight matchup featuring Deiveson Figueiredo taking on Payton Talbott.

Image via: samcasttroo on Instagram

Figueiredo (25-7-1 MMA) will enter the bout with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid. The former flyweight kingpin is coming off losses to Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong in his most recent efforts. ‘Figgy' has gone just 1-4 over his past five Octagon appearances overall.

Meanwhile, Payton Talbott (11-1 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since scoring a unanimous decision win over former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 323. The 28-year-old has gone 4-1 over his past five fights, with his lone loss in that time coming by way of decision to Raoni Barcelos.

Also featured on tonight's UFC 332 main card lineup is a lightweight bout between King Green and Esteban Ribovics.

Green (36-17-1 MMA) will enter the contest on a four-fight winning streak, this after scoring three straight finishes over Daniel Zellhuber, Jeremy Stephens and Terrance McKinney (see that here). The longtime veteran has gone 7-3 over his past 10 Octagon apperances overall.

Meanwhile, Esteban Ribovics (16-3 MMA) was most previously seen in action this past August at UFC 330, where he scored a second-round TKO victory over Edson Barboza. ‘El Gringo' has gone 3-2 over his past five fights overall.

Get all of tonight's live results and highlights below (refresh for updates):

UFC 332 Main Card (Paramount+, 8 p.m. ET)

Natalia Silva (125) vs. Wang Cong (124.5) – Silva def. Cong by unanimous decision (48-47 x2, 49-46)

Deiveson Figueiredo (135) vs. Payton Talbott (135.5) – Talbott vs. Figueiredo via TKO (punches) at 2:09 of Round 1

King Green (155.5) vs. Esteban Ribovics (156.5)* – Ribovics def. Green via TKO (punches) at 4:08 of Round 1

Khaos Williams (170) vs. Roberto Soldic (170) – Soldić def. Williams by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27 x2)

Ateba Gautier (184) vs. Roman Kopylov (185) – Kopylov def. Gautier via TKO (punches) at 3:12 of Round 1

UFC 332 Prelims (Paramount+, 6 p.m. ET)

Imanol Rodriguez (126) vs. Alden Coria (126) – Rodriguez def. Coria via TKO (front kick to the body and punches) at 3:11 of Round 1

Damian Pinas (185) vs. Andrey Pulyaev (185.5) – Pinas def. Pulyaev via KO (punch) at 1:15 of Round 1

Marcus McGhee (144.5) vs. Anthony Romero (145) – McGhee def. Romero via TKO (punches) at 4:58 of Round 1

Anthony Wint (236) vs. Lucas Armand (263) – Wint def. Armand via TKO (punches) at 0:23 of Round 1

UFC 332 Early Prelims (Paramount+, 4 p.m. ET)

Johnny Walker (242) vs. Mick Parkin (265) – Walker def. Parkin via KO (knee) at 3:35 of Round 1

Rafael dos Anjos (155.5) vs. Alexander Hernandez (155) – Hernandez def. Dos Anjos via TKO (punches) at 3:12 of Round 2

Marvin Vettori (185.5) vs. Ismail Naurdiev (184.5) – Naurdiev def. Vettori by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Jacobe Smith (171) vs. Bruce Whitehead (170) – Smith def. Whitehead via KO (punches) at 1:32 of Round 1

Court McGee (170) vs. Eric Nolan (170) – Nolan def. McGee via KO (punch) at 3:26 of Round 3

Who are you picking to win tonight's women's flyweight title fight between Natalia Silva and Wang Cong? Share your predictions in the comment section PENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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Alex Pereira set to return at UFC 335!

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5 hours ago

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October 3, 2026

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Alex Pereira set to return at UFC 335!
Trending:

Ciryl Gane shares first words since Tom Aspinall vacated UFC heavyweight title amid latest eye setback

Former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira will be returning to the Octagon at UFC 335 on December 12.

The promotion announced Pereira's next fight during tonight's UFC 332 main card broadcast.

The Pereira vs. Pavlovich fight will serve as the co-main event of UFC 335 and is scheduled for five rounds.

Alex Pereira (13-4 MMA) most previously competed inside of the Octagon this past June at UFC Freedom 250, where he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Ciryl Gane in a fight for the promotion's interim heavyweight title.

Prior to that setback, ‘Poatan' was coming off a first-round TKO victory over Magomed Ankalaev to reclaim the UFC's coveted light heavyweight championship. Pereira would later vacate that title in order to compete in the promotion's heavyweight division.

As for Sergei Pavlovich (21-3 MMA), the hard-hitting Russian is currently riding a three-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming by way of first-round knockout over Tallison Teixeira this past May at UFC Macau. The 34-year-old has gone 8-2 over his past ten Octagon appearances overall.

Who do you think will emerge victorious when Alex Pereira and Sergei Pavlovich collide at 335? Share your predictions in the comment section Penn Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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UFC 332 LIVE stream watch party: Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong

Published

6 hours ago

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October 3, 2026

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UFC 332 LIVE stream watch party: Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong

MMA Fighting has a live stream watch party for Saturday's UFC 332 event at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the main event, Natalia Silva faces Wang Cong for the vacant UFC women's flyweight title. Valentina Shevchenko vacated the championship after suffering an injury.

Join Mike Heck and Jed Meshew as they watch the main card, and more live with the MMA Fighting community.

In the co-main event, surging bantamweight contender Payton Talbott looks to continue his rise up the ranks as he faces former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo.

Additionally, UFC 332 includes a lightweight contest between King Green and Esteban Ribovics, while former two-division KSW champion Roberto Soldic makes his octagon debut against knockout artist Khaos Williams.

The UFC 332 main card opens up in the middleweight division as Ateba Gautier faces his toughest test to date in Roman Kopylov.

Watch the UFC 332 watch party in the video above at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, starting with the featured preliminary contest between Imanol Rodriguez and Alden Coria.

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