It almost seems like a lifetime ago that Chandler signed onto coach The Ultimate Fighter season 31 opposite McGregor and now nine months has passed since the lightweights were supposed to headline UFC 303 during International Fight Week in 2024. Chandler eventually returned to action with a five-round battle against Charles Oliveira this past November and he’s now scheduled to clash with Paddy Pimblett in the UFC 314 co-main event in April.

“There’s still no regret for how the whole Conor thing played out,” Chandler said. “I had all the reassurances behind the scenes that yeah, the fight might get pushed back a little bit further but I’d still signed a contract, did The Ultimate Fighter — we still need to finish The Ultimate Fighter 31. If Conor comes back, he signed his name on the dotted line that he will finish The Ultimate Fighter 31.

“Obviously I take a lot of flack for it, people make fun of me for waiting for Conor and doing that stuff,” Chandler said. “I signed a contract saying I’m going to do The Ultimate Fighter and I’m going to fight Conor McGregor so I wanted to wait it out, figure it out and we got the fight booked and obviously he pulled out. I think that fight happens somewhere down the line if he ever does come back but I wanted to get right back on the horse.