Michael Chandler was right about one thing: He'll indeed be fighting on the planned UFC White House card in June.

The opponent may be a bit of a surprise, but he'll be on the UFC Freedom 250 card nonetheless.

Chandler has been saying for months that his spot on the UFC's show June 14 at the White House was a lock. He'd been hoping for a fight, finally, with Conor McGregor – literally years after they first were booked. Instead, it will come at lightweight against Mauricio Ruffy (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) — an opponent who wasn't on as many radar screens for a possible Chandler opponent as other fighters.

The 29-year-old Ruffy, a member of Brazil's Fighting Nerds camp, is coming off a bonus-winning knockout of Rafael Fiziev at UFC 325 in Sydney. That got him back on track after he was submitted by Benoit Saint Denis in Paris in September, which was his first loss in the UFC.

Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) is on a three-fight skid to Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira and Paddy Pimblett. Chandler, a former Bellator champion, won his UFC debut against Dan Hooker more than five years ago, but has just one win since then – against Tony Ferguson, who ended his UFC run with a infamous record-setting eight straight losses.

Other than McGregor, Chandler had mentioned the possibility of fighting the Charles Oliveira vs. Max Holloway BMF title winner, which he incorrectly predicted would be Holloway, or a rematch with Hooker.

Chandler and McGregor filmed Season 31 of "The Ultimate Fighter" three years ago, and were supposed to fight afterward. They didn't get booked until UFC 303 in June 2024, but the fight was canceled. McGregor has been regularly in legal trouble and hasn't fought in nearly five years, and UFC CEO Dana White said in the buildup to the White House announcement that McGregor was not part of the plan.

Full UFC Freedom 250 lineup includes:

• Champion Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje – for lightweight title
• Ciryl Gane vs. Alex Pereira – for interim heavyweight title
• Sean O'Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi
• Michael Chandler vs. Mauricio Ruffy
• Kyle Daukaus vs. Bo Nickal
• Steve Garcia vs. Diego Lopes

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: No McGregor, but Chandler gets UFC White House spot he was gagging for