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McGregor vs. Chandler Odds: Irishman Opens as Slight Favorite in Battle of TUF Coaches

Kyle Smith

March 9, 2023 10:23 AM EST • 3 min 14 sec read.

Conor McGregor poses during weigh-in for UFC 264 and we look ahead to our top odds for McGregor vs. Chandler.
Conor McGregor poses during weigh-in for UFC 264. Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images via AFP.

In a battle between coaches on the upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter," former two-division champion Conor McGregor is set to clash with ex-Bellator kingpin Michael Chandler following TUF 31. Here are our McGregor vs. Chandler UFC odds from our best sportsbooks.

Once the sport’s biggest star, McGregor finds himself at a bit of a crossroads. The impossibly brash Irishman has dropped two of his last three bouts, including consecutive losses to perennial contender Dustin Poirier, who bested McGregor twice in 2021.

A former Bellator lightweight champion, Chandler’s been on a bit of a slide of his own. He’s faced only elite competition since making his UFC debut in the early stages of 2021, but Chandler is still 2-3 during that stretch, with his most recent loss coming via rear-naked choke to the aforementioned Poirier back at UFC 281 in November.

With both men trying to regroup after being fed into the “Diamond” wood chipper, here’s our breakdown of the McGregor vs. Chandler odds (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

McGregor vs. Fighter Chandler odds

DraftKings FanDuel Caesars
Conor McGregor-110 -112 -115
Michael Chandler-110 -104 -105

Since no official date is set for this matchup, it’s not available at every major book yet. There is no clear-cut favorite at this point, with your best odds to back McGregor existing at DraftKings (-110), while backers of Chandler can snatch him up at -104 over at FanDuel.

With so many question marks surrounding this matchup, we’ll unlikely see a violent swing in odds unless something drastic happens during the filming of "The Ultimate Fighter."

McGregor vs. Chandler Moneyline

McGregor (-110) vs. Chandler (-104)

As far as the odds are concerned, this one is a bit of a coin flip. Both McGregor and Chandler sport identical -110 lines at DraftKings, with McGregor as short as -115 with Caesars Sportsbook.

That -115 line gives McGregor the largest implied win probability at 53.49%, which still ultimately makes this fight a pick‘em. With margins this thin, it all boils down to who you think is going to win, as opposed to backing a fighter because the odds are favorable for a hefty payout.

McGregor vs. Chandler early pick

McGregor (-110) ⭐⭐⭐

There are so many unknowns with “Notorious” heading into this bout. Even if a horrific leg injury didn’t prematurely halt his second bout with Poirier, it appeared McGregor was already starting to fade under the pressure.

McGregor hasn’t looked truly great since his demolition of Donald Cerrone, and that was more than three years ago and against a much weaker opponent. The 2020 version of Cerrone wasn’t exactly a litmus test for an elite fighter at 155 pounds.

The most recent iteration of Chander is more of a known commodity at this point. The former Division I wrestler hits like a freight train carrying dynamite, never shies away from a firefight, and rarely ever falls back on his wrestling. I feel like this puzzling fight IQ will be his downfall.

McGregor is the superior technical striker, who lands at a higher volume (5.32 significant strikes per minute to Chandler’s 4.89), with higher accuracy (49% compared to Chandler’s 46%). I expect Chandler to eschew his vaunted wrestling game to sling leather with McGregor, and at some point, the Irishman will viciously crumble an overly aggressive Chandler’s chin.

Of course, all of this could change based on McGregor’s appearance on "The Ultimate Fighter," but at this point, I have to favor the man from Dublin.

Here are our best sportsbooks:

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* Bonuses not applicable in Ontario.

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Written By:
Kyle Smith
A sportswriter for more than a decade, Kyle Smith was once voted “World’s 78th Greatest Lover” by ‘Relatively Attractive People Magazine’.* After covering nearly every sport under the sun for theScore, Smith settled in as head MMA writer where he helped shape the company’s coverage and establish its combat sports identity. Since then, he’s dipped his toes (cannonballed) into the world of betting, where he specializes in the UFC and NHL. Constantly chasing that gigantic Parlay Dragon, Smith was devastated when a Leon Edwards head kick completely obliterated a recent five-leg parlay. You can read his rantings and ravings on Twitter @Heldrificus. *Not a real publication.