​Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler has long been the one that got away, but is there still a slight chance the two fight someday?This past Saturday’s UFC 329 main event saw McGregor back inside the octagon for the first time since July 2021, when he broke his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier. In a cruel twist, McGregor’s comeback fight against rival Max Holloway lasted just 69 seconds as he suffered a leg injury at the very start of the contest and was eventually forced to bow out. McGregor is determined to recover and fulfill the last fight on his UFC contract, but when, where, and against who remains to be seen.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFellow former UFC champion Israel Adesanya believes it’s time for McGregor to give Chandler the fight he’s been chasing for years.“I did see [McGregor] when he was sitting down and he looked distraught,” Adesanya said on the Precision podcast with Demetrious Johnson. “He looked like, a lot of weight on him. He kind of picked at his glove for a second, so I thought, ‘Is he going to retire?’ I don’t think so, but a fight with Max again after a five-year layoff, you’re fighting at the top of the heap. You’re fighting one of the best to do it. That’s a hard fight to come back against.“I say, if he does decide to come back later on, Chandler would be the only fight that makes sense.”Chandler, a three-time Bellator lightweight champion, joined the UFC in 2021 and fought Oliveira for a vacant 155-pound belt in just his second appearance for the promotion. Following losses to Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, Chandler set his sights on McGregor and repeatedly called for the matchup in interviews and social media posts. The two were eventually cast as opposing coaches on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, with the assumption that Chandler would serve as McGregor’s comeback fight opponent.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTheir fight was booked to headline UFC 303 in June 2024, but disaster struck when a toe injury forced McGregor to withdraw from the contest. When Chandler finally returned to action, he had gone two years without a fight waiting for McGregor.Adesanya thinks it’s only right that Chandler is chosen to for McGregor’s final UFC fight.“He kind of owes Chandler that fight,” Adesaya said. “He honeyd*cked him for for, like, two, three years while Chandler was waiting for the big money fight. So now, after The Ultimate Fighter, after all those times, it would be good for them to kind of settle the score because they even have a little bit of—Not beef, but they’ve got some heat there. That would be the fight I think he should come back to.”Given McGregor’s massive star power, it’s conceivable he could have his pick of opponents when he’s able to compete again. However, with his injury recovery timetable uncertain and his competitive capabilities in question, his next matchup could be determined by timing as much as the preference of his management