Chael Sonnen: 'Weatherman' Michael Chandler has got to move on from Conor McGregor fight

Chael Sonnen doesn’t think Michael Chandler will end up fighting Conor McGregor.

Chandler’s (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) long wait to face McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) got even longer when “The Notorious” was forced out of their UFC 303 fight last month due to a broken pinky toe.

Sonnen initially said Chandler might as well continue to wait after exercising so much patience, but he has now changed his tune.

“By the end of the year, Michael Chandler will finally assume his new role as a weatherman,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” alongside Daniel Cormier. “I feel that’s what he’s prepping for. Picture what he’s asking for. He’s asking for a fight with Conor McGregor. That simply can’t happen, but he’s staying on, right? He’s staying noble. He’s staying dependent.

“Picture Michael Chandler wearing rain gear, OK? I’m talking about the yellow jacket. The hood is up, he’s got a microphone, he’s broadcasting a potential storm coming while he’s standing in the middle of the Sahara desert, because that is as much opportunity as he’s going to have to fight Conor McGregor. He’s got to move on.”

Chandler recently revealed that he was offered a title fight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, but then turned his attention to a fight vs. Nate Diaz at UFC 306 from the Sphere.

“He allegedly, all in the last week, has been offered a world title fight against Islam then he got in the way of his own headline and stepped in front of it and has called out Nathan Diaz for the Sphere,” Sonnen said. “Now, I’ve got all sorts of problems with that.

“One, different weight class. Two, he called out a guy that’s not even signed to the organization. … None of those things are going to happen, but he knows that. He was working a different angle. He is trying to show Conor: ‘I have power and I want to move on.’ He has not given up on the idea of still getting in there with McGregor.”