Conor McGregor shoved rival coach Michael Chandler on Ep. 6 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 31 last Tues. night (July 4, 2023) on ESPN, clearly frustrated that his longtime training partner, Lee Hammond, was unable to get Team Notorious into the win column.
Read our complete TUF 31 recap (with video highlights) right here.
“It went from zero to 100 very quickly,” Chandler told ESPN’s “After TUF” post-show. “To be honest with you, I didn’t expect it. Obviously we’re ready to protect ourselves at all times. The first thing was, ‘Holy cow, okay, he just put his hands on me. What’s about to happen? Is he in my space?’ But obviously he backed up. I obviously got pushed back, and we both kind of started walking towards the center of the cage.”
UFC President Dana White rushed into the cage to keep the situation under control and both fighters managed to keep their composure. McGregor is 0-6 as TUF 31 coach and only has two quarterfinal fights remaining to get his squad into the win column.
“He starts taking off his coat, and I’m like, ‘Okay, what? We’re going to fight right here?’ Obviously you never quite know what’s going to happen,” Chandler continued. “We’re on a reality show, but it’s also two dudes who want to fight each other. So I was ready for anything, and obviously I was ready to fight right there if we had to, but let’s be honest: We’re on a reality show.”
McGregor and Chandler were supposed to fight at the conclusion of TUF 31 but ongoing drama with USADA has kept “Notorious” away from the sport. The current timeline points to late 2023 or early 2024, but confidence is waning as time marches on.
Until then, McGregor seems content to mock Chandler on social media.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
