Michael Chandler has waited almost two years to fight Conor McGregor, but now that he’s finally returning to action at UFC 309, he’s wasting no more time when it comes to his career.

On Saturday night, Chandler will get the chance to avenge his first UFC loss when he takes on Charles Oliveira in the five-round co-main event at Madison Square Garden in New York. It may not be the fight he initially wanted, but Chandler certainly wasn’t upset about getting Oliveira instead of McGregor considering the history they share.

“Call it serendipity, call it God’s plan, call it the universe and how it all plays out, no matter what anyone’s opinion on it is, you couldn’t have written it any better,” Chandler told MMA Fighting. “You couldn’t script it any better.

“It’s at Madison Square Garden, the co-main event, Jon Jones vs. Stipe (Miocic), the fight for the greatest heavyweight, the baddest man in the world and (my fight against) the man who shattered my dreams.”

Chandler’s dream was to become a UFC lightweight champion and he almost achieved that when he faced Oliveira for the first time in 2021 with the vacant title up for grabs. That night, Chandler came out guns blazing and nearly finished Oliviera with a barrage of punches in the opening round.

To his credit, Oliveira survived the attack and then stormed back by delivering a lightning knockout that ended the fight just 19 seconds into the second round.

Now, more than three years later, Chandler finally gets his chance to get revenge.

“Since you’ve been watching me since I was 20, I wanted to be the best guy in the world,” Chandler said. “I want to be known as the best man in the world. You can’t be the best man in the world unless you’re holding a UFC belt.

“That guy Charles Oliveira beat me, legitimately, legally within the boundaries of the sport, that night in Houston, Texas and he was the better man. But I have the opportunity to right that wrong in my mind and in my soul.”

While his sole focus now remains on beating Oliveira at UFC 309, Chandler is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to really hit the ground running now that he’s finally back in action.

Just because he’s not facing McGregor like he originally planned, the 38-year-old former Bellator champion really believes this is still a match he could get in early 2025. McGregor continues to tout his plans to return to action, with UFC CEO Dana White recently saying he is confident the Irish superstar will fight again next year.

Assuming that happens, Chandler has set an ambitious timeline for the next year of his career with targets at Oliveira, McGregor and eventually UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

“I plan to beat Charles Oliveira, come out healthy and be able to fight Conor as early as January if the athletic committees don’t give me too long a suspension,” Chandler said.

“So I could fight Conor first in 2025 and still fight Islam. To run past Charles Oliveira and Conor McGregor in a few months and then fight for the UFC title, that’s one heck of a run.

For years, Chandler considered Khabib Nurmagomedov to be the fight he most wanted, but that is no longer possible now that the undefeated former UFC lightweight champion is happily retired with no plans to compete again. In Nurmagomedov’s absence, Makhachev has taken over with a dominant run through the lightweight division, including victories over Oliveira, Dustin Poirier and former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski.

He may never have gotten the chance to face Nurmagomedov in the cage, but Chandler would be just as eager to face his prodigy, especially with the UFC lightweight title on the line.

“I think I have a great style to beat Islam,” Chandler said. “Like I said, good old-fashioned, passionate, hard-working Missouri Division I wrestling beats Dagestani sambo any day of the week. I have dynamite in my hands. I’ve been doing cardio for days. I can pick up the pace. I believe I have defeated Islam. A lot of respect for him.

‘Like I said in the past, he hadn’t proven himself. Now he has proven himself 100 percent. He is our champion, he is my champion at 155 years old. I have to have respect. That being said, who wouldn’t want to see that fight?”

First off, Makhachev is expected to face Arman Tsarukyan sometime in early 2025, but Chandler is confident in his prediction about who will walk away with the title in that fight.

“Arman is a very talented man, but I think Islam just has too much for him,” Chandler said. “Islam is crazy. I think Islam is bigger and stronger, it has more skills. Obviously I studied the Oliveira vs. Arman fight a lot, which was Charles’ last fight and he lost to Arman. I just don’t think he has enough to defeat Islam.

“Islam, he has too much pressure, his wrestling is better, he has gotten much better since he and Arman fought. Stylistically, I think Islam will go out and win, or at least I want him to because I want to compete for the title against Islam. I think this is the perfect way to win the title.”

Future plans to face McGregor and Makhachev won’t matter much if Chandler doesn’t get through Oliveira first, which is why he’s so excited about this particular matchup.

He’s mapping out an ideal scenario because Chandler wants to prove he can do it and it all starts on Saturday.

“It’s a dangerous, scary, exciting fight,” Chandler said of his rematch with Oliveira. “Great opportunity. How hard it is to beat someone in a rematch when you’ve already beaten them. So he has all this pressure on him. I have nothing to lose, everything to gain.”