Did Chandler choose to sit out all this time? Or was he sat out?

[don't ask]

I'm not convinced he was holding out for Conor all this time, refusing to take other fights. Having organized some pretty large projects that have relied on a few key people for completion, I suspect it's just as likely that the UFC wouldn't let him fight anyone and risk their money fight falling apart. I don't think they expected this thing to drag on for years -- if they knew that, they would have let him take other fights and earn some money for them. But I don't think they strung him along, either, in this hypothetical scenario. From their perspective, the fight was always just over the next horizon.

I think it's likely that Conor was stringing he UFC along and kept finding problems they had to fix while promising everything would happen on all the right dates. I think it took two years for them to realize how (allegedly) unreliable Conor has completely become at this point. I've had to work with people like this: it starts with trust in their professionalism, but they're not the same person you've worked with in the past and pretty soon you're desperate for them just to do their damn job, but they never do, and it's perfectly human to keep trying to salvage everything invested in the situation instead of cutting losses.

 

[Deadwing88]

Washed.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

If he risked it , fought , and lost... kiss the biggest fight of your career good bye

 

[Arm Barbarian]

He took a gamble and lost.

I get the allure of that red panty night, but just observing Conor over the past couple of years should have let him know it was more likely a red flag than red panty assurance. Dude has been off the rails.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

Chandler still holding on tight to that pocket

still delusional about getting his Red Panty night

 

[The Big Babou]

I'm not convinced he was holding out for Conor all this time, refusing to take other fights. Having organized some pretty large projects that have relied on a few key people for completion, I suspect it's just as likely that the UFC wouldn't let him fight anyone and risk their money fight falling apart. I don't think they expected this thing to drag on for years -- if they knew that, they would have let him take other fights and earn some money for them. But I don't think they strung him along, either, in this hypothetical scenario. From their perspective, the fight was always just over the next horizon.

I think it's likely that Conor was stringing he UFC along and kept finding problems they had to fix while promising everything would happen on all the right dates. I think it took two years for them to realize how (allegedly) unreliable Conor has completely become at this point. I've had to work with people like this: it starts with trust in their professionalism, but they're not the same person you've worked with in the past and pretty soon you're desperate for them just to do their damn job, but they never do, and it's perfectly human to keep trying to salvage everything invested in the situation instead of cutting losses.

I'd be very surprised if teh UFC paid for an "independent contractor" to sit down for a couple of years

Everyone else wants-in on that red panty night

 

[MMAFanCal]

Dana White in a post fight press conference mocked him for sitting out and waiting for the Conor fight by not risking a loss. He said something to the effect that these guys have a lot of money to sit around and not fight. It was entirely Chandler as you can see in how he is obsessed with Conor that speaks volumes as to his state of mind

 

[don't ask]

Dana White in a post fight press conference mocked him for sitting out and waiting for the Conor fight by not risking a loss. He said something to the effect that these guys have a lot of money to sit around and not fight. It was entirely Chandler as you can see in how he is obsessed with Conor that speaks volumes as to his state of mind

Listening to Dana White is one of the poorest avenues to the truth.

 

[don't ask]

I'd be very surprised if teh UFC paid for an "independent contractor" to sit down for a couple of years

Everyone else wants-in on that red panty night

Can you explain? Why would the UFC have to pay him?

 

[Dave Poodle]

Dana White in a post fight press conference mocked him for sitting out and waiting for the Conor fight by not risking a loss. He said something to the effect that these guys have a lot of money to sit around and not fight. It was entirely Chandler as you can see in how he is obsessed with Conor that speaks volumes as to his state of mind

He wasn't mocking Chandler, he was using that as a defense of UFC pay - Chandler can afford to sit out because we pay so well' even though Chandler said he was paid more in Bellator.

I think Chandler came over at the end of his career to go for the title and fight big fights. Don't think he's really interested in fighting the Gamrots, etc. He'll just wait for the conor fight then retire.

 

[Prologue]

Chandler just doing what he's told.

 

[JayTeeM]

Long time to sit out at that age. He went from the tail end of his prime to being no doubt past his prime in that time. Hopefully it was all worth it

 

[Greyscale]

The man has a rare condition that makes him choke on his beard if his opponent had a full camp and is not from a lower weight class.

 

[ledonk]

I mean, if you purchased an expensive pair of red panties and the window to return them has passed, wouldnt you want to wait? Fuck he gonna do with the red panties?

 

[Neck&Neck]

Dana probably said at first he would take care of him
Then threw him a few Apex family passes
“Enjoy the show kid”

 

[AldoStillGoat]

TLDR at the bottom if you’d like to skip reading.

Chandler is basically the pawn in the Conor contract negotiations. UFC wants Chandler to fight Conor because he’s their lapdog, is an exciting fighter that goes for broke and is probably tied up in an unfavorable contract that benefits the UFC. In return, Chandler created his own liquor company (Hiatus) copying Conor which benefits him when the company pushes his notoriety and maybe gets to fight Conor. Chandler is old himself and just wants money at this stage of his career so he will do what he is told.

Conor is in the midst of contract negotiations (he said so himself a few months back) and he will soon be released from his contract like Ngannou (who is the first fighter to really break out from his contract and make crazy boxing money). He has two fights left and the UFC is forcing Conor to fight Chandler only because they want Chandler to be the guy with the hype behind him. (They even tried to make a TUF fight with both of them). They probably offered Conor a shitty contract extension and said sign this or we will make you wait to fight. For a long time Conor was begging for a fight (the past year he was constantly saying this himself) but the UFC was not giving him anything trying to stall his comeback in order to get him to sign a new contract like they did Francis. Conor wants ownership like he’s said many times in the past or a bigger cut of the enormous money he is generating the UFC. Conor doesn’t care about money as much as other fighters cause he’s not broke… he can afford to go toe to toe with the UFC.

I don’t think Conor wanted to actually fight Chandler because that plays into the UFC’s hand. He waited for the UFC to promote him and push for this fight and probably asked for more money after seeing the record gate he and Chandler were set to break. They probably offered him more money when Dana flew out to see him a few weeks ago but he probably asked for more again for which they finally said no and Conor said thx for the free promo and said he’s injured. Remember the UFC pulled all Conor and fight promo a few weeks back when he cancelled the press conference? This also benefits the UFC as they sold a shit ton of tickets and had Ppv pre buys and now they cancelled the fight but not everyone will refund. It’s a win win for both parties.

This is why Chandler is now taking a dig at Conor by saying he is the most reliable fighter. He’s trying to piss him off… because if they were seeing eye to eye , he the UFC and Conor, he wouldn’t make that kind of comment when they are all supposed to be working together.

Conor is playing the UFC like no one else has played them before and they can’t do shit about it cause he literally makes them the most money. He’s copying what Ngannou did .. waiting out his contract. He’s not really “injured” although his leg is probably not in the best condition (I mean …. He fucking broke that shit). He just wants more money… and if they won’t give him more money he keeps playing them by accepting the fights, getting free promo, and then saying he’s injured and pulling out. Why would he fight in MMA when he could potentially lose to Chandler and people see his leg is not working the same when he can do a boxing match which will make him more money with less risk to him and his brand? He won’t lose any money if he doesn’t fight because his eventual boxing purse will make enough money to cover any fights he would miss in the UFC.

TLDR;

Conor will never fight for the UFC again. He’s part owner of BKFC… his next fight will be in BKFC or he will do a boxing match next like Ngannou. He’s not actually injured so bad he can’t fight. He is just playing the UFC for free promo. He’s literally juicing the UFC for free promo because he’s done in the MMA world (last win before Cerrone was 6 years ago!).

 

[don't ask]

TLDR at the bottom if you’d like to skip reading.

Chandler is basically the pawn in the Conor contract negotiations. UFC wants Chandler to fight Conor because he’s their lapdog, is an exciting fighter that goes for broke and is probably tied up in an unfavorable contract that benefits the UFC. In return, Chandler created his own liquor company (Hiatus) copying Conor which benefits him when the company pushes his notoriety and maybe gets to fight Conor. Chandler is old himself and just wants money at this stage of his career so he will do what he is told.

Conor is in the midst of contract negotiations (he said so himself a few months back) and he will soon be released from his contract like Ngannou (who is the first fighter to really break out from his contract and make crazy boxing money). He has two fights left and the UFC is forcing Conor to fight Chandler only because they want Chandler to be the guy with the hype behind him. (They even tried to make a TUF fight with both of them). They probably offered Conor a shitty contract extension and said sign this or we will make you wait to fight. For a long time Conor was begging for a fight (the past year he was constantly saying this himself) but the UFC was not giving him anything trying to stall his comeback in order to get him to sign a new contract like they did Francis. Conor wants ownership like he’s said many times in the past or a bigger cut of the enormous money he is generating the UFC. Conor doesn’t care about money as much as other fighters cause he’s not broke… he can afford to go toe to toe with the UFC.

I don’t think Conor wanted to actually fight Chandler because that plays into the UFC’s hand. He waited for the UFC to promote him and push for this fight and probably asked for more money after seeing the record gate he and Chandler were set to break. They probably offered him more money when Dana flew out to see him a few weeks ago but he probably asked for more again for which they finally said no and Conor said thx for the free promo and said he’s injured. Remember the UFC pulled all Conor and fight promo a few weeks back when he cancelled the press conference? This also benefits the UFC as they sold a shit ton of tickets and had Ppv pre buys and now they cancelled the fight but not everyone will refund. It’s a win win for both parties.

This is why Chandler is now taking a dig at Conor by saying he is the most reliable fighter. He’s trying to piss him off… because if they were seeing eye to eye , he the UFC and Conor, he wouldn’t make that kind of comment when they are all supposed to be working together.

Conor is playing the UFC like no one else has played them before and they can’t do shit about it cause he literally makes them the most money. He’s copying what Ngannou did .. waiting out his contract. He’s not really “injured” although his leg is probably not in the best condition (I mean …. He fucking broke that shit). He just wants more money… and if they won’t give him more money he keeps playing them by accepting the fights, getting free promo, and then saying he’s injured and pulling out. Why would he fight in MMA when he could potentially lose to Chandler and people see his leg is not working the same when he can do a boxing match which will make him more money with less risk to him and his brand? He won’t lose any money if he doesn’t fight because his eventual boxing purse will make enough money to cover any fights he would miss in the UFC.

TLDR;

Conor will never fight for the UFC again. He’s part owner of BKFC… his next fight will be in BKFC or he will do a boxing match next like Ngannou. He’s not actually injured so bad he can’t fight. He is just playing the UFC for free promo. He’s literally juicing the UFC for free promo because he’s done in the MMA world (last win before Cerrone was 6 years ago!).

Dude, this is a fantastic post! This is one of the most plausible explanations I've heard yet.

 

[filthybliss]

Chandler probably doesn't wanna risk losing to a can since his entire life depends on Conor's mood swings

 

[mkt]

Chandler chose his path. After losing to Poirier, he would've had to settle for opponents like Bobby Green, Paddy, etc. for a few fights. But he's an entertaining fighter, and I"m sure the UFC wouldn't mind him fighting 2 or 3 times instead of waiting for Conor.

 

[The Big Babou]

Can you explain? Why would the UFC have to pay him?

My point is they structure their fighter agreements to prevent this type of payment