​“Iron” Mike knows “Notorious.”Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) two-division champion Conor McGregor finally returned to competition this past weekend (Sat., July 11, 2026) against Max Holloway at UFC 329, but unfortunately, his highly anticipated comeback lasted just 69 seconds as he injured his knee inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch it).AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSince then, plenty of fighters, fans, and analysts have weighed in on what happened, what went wrong, and what could be next for McGregor. And now, one of the men who spent years waiting to fight him has offered his thoughts.Former UFC Lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler, who was scheduled to fight McGregor in 2024 before the Irish superstar withdrew with a broken toe, does not believe “The Notorious” showed up just to collect a paycheck.“A lot of speculation is going on out there,” Chandler said today in an Instagram video. “A lot of people disappointed about how the fight went. A lot of conspiracy theories going on out there. I understand people are upset. I understand people are let down by this massive return that everybody wanted to see, the massive return that everybody wanted to be entertained by.“We’re missing the fact that we are just in a crazy sport in which we are pushing our bodies to the limits,” Chandler continued, “a lot of times contorting them and taking massive amounts of force at any given moment.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementChandler then broke down how quickly things appeared to fall apart for McGregor.“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, then throws another kick, leg buckles, throws a punch, leg buckles,” Chandler said. “And everybody’s trying to figure out, ‘Hey, 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?’”For Chandler, that theory does not add up.“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,’” Chandler said.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementChandler knows the frustration better than most.He coached opposite McGregor on The Ultimate Fighter and was supposed to finally fight him during International Fight Week in 2024. However, McGregor withdrew just weeks before fight night, leaving Chandler without the red-panty night he had been chasing for two years.Still, even after losing out on that massive fight, Chandler does not believe McGregor has quit in him.“You can say what you want about Conor,” Chandler said. “Conor’s mistakes are well documented. Conor’s shortcomi