Nov 4, 2021
Chandler ‘prepared to go to war’ against Gaethje at UFC 268
Michael Chandler has served as a backup for a championship fight, starched Dan Hooker in the opening round of his promotional debut and taken a shot at the lightweight title since signing with the UFC in September of 2020.
Michael Chandler has served as a backup for a championship fight, starched Dan Hooker in the opening round of his promotional debut and taken a shot at the lightweight title since signing with the UFC in September of 2020.
It has been a whirlwind for the former three-time Bellator Lightweight Champion, but in terms of the highest moment, he’s sticking with the win at UFC 257 on Fight Island on Jan. 23.
“I gotta say the debut, honestly, there was so much pressure,” Chandler told TSN. “As you know, you follow my career before, I left the relative security of fighting outside of the UFC, making the decision to come into the UFC. If it doesn’t work out well, I might not be able to sleep at night the rest of my life, but it’s worked out pretty darn well so far. Obviously fought for the title, fell short, but I think that debut, the way it ended, the promo after, the hype after, the opportunities after, that’s definitely the highlight thus far.”
After defeating Hooker via TKO, Chandler found himself facing Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title, a bout where he would get stopped in the second round after a very promising first five minutes.
The 35-year-old says he learns from the losses and keeps all the setbacks in perspective.
“The crazy thing is, this fight career is just a blip on the radar,” said Chandler. “I’m only going to have done it for 15 years of my 100-year life. I love what I do, I love fighting for the UFC, the No. 1 goal is still to become the No. 1 lightweight in the world. But, fail early, fail often, learn how to deal with failure because you’re always going to be a better person on the other side of it. That last loss, it stung, it led to some sleepless nights, some tough conversations going on inside my head trying to remind myself that I’m one of the best in the world.”
On Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, Chandler will be up against former interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC that is known for finishing opponents violently and collecting performance bonuses for his work.
Both fighters are former title challengers and ranked in the top 5, which means the winner of this bout could earn another shot at the gold. Chandler for his part, is not sweating the 32-year-old man he’s going to be across from in the Octagon on Saturday.
“He’s got two arms and two legs, he throws punches, kicks, knees, elbows, the rule set is the exact same, the stakes are higher, this is very likely a No. 1 contender fight,” said Chandler. “He’s a scary opponent, he’s a guy that didn’t lead to sleepless nights, but he led to me waking up early before my alarm every single day. A little extra motivation, that little bit of fear factor knowing that this guy can’t be beaten spiritually, this guy has a heart that can’t be dominated, he never gives up so you’ll have to separate him from consciousness to beat him, that’s what I’m prepared for.”
“I’m prepared to go to war, you’ve seen it in the past, fight fire with fire and we’re going to open up the card on Saturday night and get the show started with a bang.”
There is no question that Chandler/Gaethje is a main event calibre fight, but instead it will be a three-round contest as part of a stacked UFC 268 main card.
Chandler thinks the length of the fight suits the matchup just fine.
“I think I would have accepted it either way, I think I have more experience in five-round fights than he does, so I would fare just as well in a five-round fight as a three,” said Chandler. “It’s no secret that he and I push the pace, so it’s almost better for the fans, it’s almost better for the overall atmosphere surrounding the fight because we can keep our foot on the gas for 15 minutes.”
It has been a whirlwind for the former three-time Bellator Lightweight Champion, but in terms of the highest moment, he’s sticking with the win at UFC 257 on Fight Island on Jan. 23.
“I gotta say the debut, honestly, there was so much pressure,” Chandler told TSN. “As you know, you follow my career before, I left the relative security of fighting outside of the UFC, making the decision to come into the UFC. If it doesn’t work out well, I might not be able to sleep at night the rest of my life, but it’s worked out pretty darn well so far. Obviously fought for the title, fell short, but I think that debut, the way it ended, the promo after, the hype after, the opportunities after, that’s definitely the highlight thus far.”
After defeating Hooker via TKO, Chandler found himself facing Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title, a bout where he would get stopped in the second round after a very promising first five minutes.
The 35-year-old says he learns from the losses and keeps all the setbacks in perspective.
“The crazy thing is, this fight career is just a blip on the radar,” said Chandler. “I’m only going to have done it for 15 years of my 100-year life. I love what I do, I love fighting for the UFC, the No. 1 goal is still to become the No. 1 lightweight in the world. But, fail early, fail often, learn how to deal with failure because you’re always going to be a better person on the other side of it. That last loss, it stung, it led to some sleepless nights, some tough conversations going on inside my head trying to remind myself that I’m one of the best in the world.”
On Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, Chandler will be up against former interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC that is known for finishing opponents violently and collecting performance bonuses for his work.
Both fighters are former title challengers and ranked in the top 5, which means the winner of this bout could earn another shot at the gold. Chandler for his part, is not sweating the 32-year-old man he’s going to be across from in the Octagon on Saturday.
“He’s got two arms and two legs, he throws punches, kicks, knees, elbows, the rule set is the exact same, the stakes are higher, this is very likely a No. 1 contender fight,” said Chandler. “He’s a scary opponent, he’s a guy that didn’t lead to sleepless nights, but he led to me waking up early before my alarm every single day. A little extra motivation, that little bit of fear factor knowing that this guy can’t be beaten spiritually, this guy has a heart that can’t be dominated, he never gives up so you’ll have to separate him from consciousness to beat him, that’s what I’m prepared for.”
“I’m prepared to go to war, you’ve seen it in the past, fight fire with fire and we’re going to open up the card on Saturday night and get the show started with a bang.”
There is no question that Chandler/Gaethje is a main event calibre fight, but instead it will be a three-round contest as part of a stacked UFC 268 main card.
Chandler thinks the length of the fight suits the matchup just fine.
“I think I would have accepted it either way, I think I have more experience in five-round fights than he does, so I would fare just as well in a five-round fight as a three,” said Chandler. “It’s no secret that he and I push the pace, so it’s almost better for the fans, it’s almost better for the overall atmosphere surrounding the fight because we can keep our foot on the gas for 15 minutes.”