UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes Conor McGregor should’ve fought Michael Chandler in comeback fight

A couple of months ago, in Jul. 2026, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited UFC return. At UFC 329, McGregor came back to fight his long-term nemesis, Max Holloway. However, within seconds of the fight, McGregor injured his ACL and was ruled out.

Now undergone surgery and recovering, McGregor hopes to come back in 2027 and take part in his last-ever UFC fight. With McGregor now on the shelf and not expected to be back for a year, McGregor is already teasing a trilogy with Holloway next summer. However, UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes the UFC should’ve stuck to their original plan and booked “The Notorious One” against Michael Chandler.

“Look, if Conor McGregor really does come back a year from now, I think he wants to fight Max Holloway. ‘I’ve got to finish what I’ve started!’ But really, [Michael] Chandler was the right fight for him anyway,” Rogan said on the latest edition of his podcast. “Because they were supposed to fight, they did The Ultimate Fighter together, they were supposed to fight a long time ago, and then Conor breaks his [toe] and all that jazz. They were supposed to fight forever ago.

“That would have been a fun fight. A good fight for Conor because Chandler is, like, he’s very aggressive. He gets hit. But Chandler is tough as s**t, man, and he’s a really good wrestler, whereas Conor, in his prime, was one of the best strikers ever. It would have been fun,” Rogan added.

Chandler was initially slated to be McGregor’s opponent for his return bout at UFC 303 in 2024. However, McGregor had to pull out of that fight due to a broken toe, and by the time he was healed, the UFC had moved on from Chandler. Instead, Dana White’s promotion selected Holloway as McGregor’s opponent at UFC 329.

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