Michael Chandler has Conor McGregor's back amid his latest controversy.

McGregor (22-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC), MMA's biggest star, disappointed many with his return to the octagon at UFC 329, which took place this past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. McGregor hadn't fought since breaking his leg in July 2021 and promised to "son" Max Holloway in their rematch and insert himself as a title threat. Instead, McGregor injured his knee with the first kick he threw just three seconds into the fight, which was stopped shortly after as he couldn't continue fighting through the pain.

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The scene left many fans questioning if McGregor had a pre-existing injury while analyzing and scrutinizing many videos and photos online trying to prove it. Chandler calls those accusations nonsense.

"A lot of speculation is going on out there," Chandler said in a video posted to his Instagram on Monday. "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, a lot of times contorting them and taking massive amounts of force at any given moment. 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, throw a punch, leg buckles. 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?'

"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 was supposed to fight McGregor in 2024 after the two served as rival coaches of "The Ultimate Fighter." They were scheduled to headline that year's UFC International Fight Week, but McGregor withdrew from the bout due to a broken toe just weeks away from the event.

The former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger doesn't think it's in McGregor's DNA to trick the fans and lead them into an intentionally failed return.

"You can say what you want about Conor. Conor's mistakes are well documented, Conor's shortcomings are well documented over the past 15 years in this sport, but one thing he is not, he's not a quitter," Chandler said. "One thing he is not is a bamboozler. He's going to make you look left when really he's doing something on the right here and there to build fights and to build storylines and to make you think and make you feel something, but he's not the type of guy who will show up to a fight injured and bow out within one minute. The UFC is not the type of organization that's going to have conversations behind closed doors and say, 'Hey, it's all good, man. We're going to get everybody hooked in on this Paramount stream, and then you're going to bounce out one minute in.' That's just not what they do. It's not how business works, but I understand the speculation, and I understand the conspiracy theories, and I understand that everybody's drawing at straws right now, looking for scouring over the internet, showing us slowing down, reversing, looking at a bunch of different angles of how Connor tripped over his shoes or he was walking into some rehab clinic, or he was walking into some hospital."

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