Conor McGregor has been criticised for being a 'puppetmaster' and treating Michael Chandler like 'Pinocchio' after announcing their upcoming fight for next summer.
McGregor's long spell out of the octagon will come to an end in June after the Irishman announced on New Year's Day that an agreement had been made with Chandler.
The 35-year-old appeared to set the terms in stating the weight would be 185lbs - a weight neither of them have ever fought.
A fight between the two has been talked up for several months after the two appeared as coaches in UFC's TV series The Ultimate Fighter.
Conor McGregor has set the demands to Michael Chandler
PA
The coaches on the programme traditionally fight each other, but the bout was delayed as McGregor was not part of the USADA testing pool.
The former two-weight champion has since returned to the pool and has indicated that he is preparing for a run at the middleweight crown.
Chandler has gone along with the requirement from McGregor to fight at 185lbs, but Daniel Cormier believes the American is being taken along for a ride.
“It’s happening at 185,” Cormier said on his ESPN show 'DC & RC.'
“It shouldn’t happen there. I agree that it doesn’t have the meaning that it should have (at lightweight).
"But I still believe it does because I believe that Conor McGregor is just going to make Michael Chandler do whatever he wants.
"And if that means fighting at a weight class he’s never fought at, that he doesn’t feel comfortable at, that’s what he’s going to do because he feels like it’s going to be in his favor.
“I think this is a game.
"I think Conor McGregor is the puppetmaster, and I think Michael Chandler is being far too easy to play with.
Michael Chandler will fight Conor McGregor in June
GETTY
“At this point, Michael Chandler is Pinocchio. Conor McGregor’s doing stuff like (pulling puppet strings) with Michael Chandler and I don’t like it because I like Michael Chandler. But I think he’s doing too much.”
Chandler hasn't been put off by McGregor's weight demands for their fight.
He wrote on social media: “I always said I wanted you at your biggest, your baddest and your best.
LATEST SPORT NEWS:
Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler went face-to-face earlier in 2023
GETTY
“185 would look good on me.”
But it also may not have come as a surprise for Chandler as McGregor had previously told the American that he wanted the fight to be at 185.
In a clip from The Ultimate Fighter series, Chandler and McGregor were talking about their potential fight when the latter said:
“Have I told you what weight it’s going to be — 185."Chandler accepted the terms before McGregor snapped back: "You'll do what you're told."