Michael Chandler is ready to make up for lost time.
After waiting patiently throughout the Conor McGregor saga — perhaps too patiently — Chandler returned to action against Charles Oliveira in November at UFC 309, coming up short against “Do Bronx” for the second time and losing a unanimous decision. It was Chandler’s first fight in two years after McGregor reneged on their planned bout, and he’s wasting no time getting back to work. He’ll take on rising lightweight star Paddy Pimblett in UFC 314’s co-main event on April 12 in Miami, Florida.
“It’s a big fight,” Chandler said Monday on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” revealing the five-round affair was actually booked two weeks ago despite being announced this past Wednesday. “No matter which way you look at it, man, it’s a big fight, and it’s the life cycle of a fighter.
“I will tip my hat to Dustin Poirier — he fought Benoit Saint Denis when not very many people knew him, right? Justin Gaethje fought Rafael Fiziev. I see it often on the social media webs, everybody’s like, ‘Man, you’re fighting everybody in the top three, top two, top five. You need to go fight a young, hungry up-and-comer.’ Well, here you go, boys and girls. Here’s my opportunity, here’s his opportunity. This is Paddy’s opportunity to get inside the top 10. This is my opportunity to show you that there are different levels to this sport.”
Chandler instantly serves as the toughest test of Pimblett’s 25-fight career — and he doesn’t believe it’s even debatable.
Pimblett enters the fresh off his two most notable wins, a unanimous decision over Tony Ferguson and a first-round guillotine submission of King Green. Pimblett’s latest victory extended his UFC win streak to six and earned him a spot at No. 12 in the promotion’s official lightweight rankings. Depending on his performance, a win over the No. 7-ranked Chandler could launch him as high as the top five.
But Chandler is confident that these are the types of matchups in which he thrives.
“You can talk about my record, you can talk about losses, you can talk about how it’s all went down, my run in the UFC thus far, but I have done nothing but fight first ballot Hall of Famers, former champions,” Chandler said. “Every single loss that I have has been to one of those guys. And when I don’t fight one of those guys — knock out, Dan Hooker, in two and a half minutes. That brutal KO of Tony Ferguson, which was KO of the year. Something spectacular happens when my back is up against the wall or I’m fighting a guy that’s not named Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje or Charles Olivera. So we’ll see what happens.”
Pimblett, 30, entered the UFC to plenty of fanfare after capturing two titles in the UK’s Cage Warriors promotion. Between his outspoken nature and irrepressible self-confidence, Pimblett quickly became an easy target among his UFC peers.
Chandler, 38, believes Pimblett will benefit from the stiff jump in competition for UFC 314, regardless of the outcome.
“I think he’s gotten a lot of undue criticism because when you’re a big personality, you talk a certain way, you talk a little bit of trash,” Chandler said. “Obviously he’s had some run-ins with Ilia Topuria and some of these other guys where he’s gotten these little animosities going on. The fans will either love that or they will hate that. They will either say, ‘Hey, you’re propped up way too much,’ or they’ll say, ‘Hey, I love Paddy Pimblett.
“You see it with a lot of guys — Bo Nickal is a great example right now. Guys, when they get into the UFC and they’re fighting the toughest competition, and they’re fighting these big fights on these big stages in these big arenas, there’s a certain learning curve that they need. I was very fortunate. I did all my learning curve back at Bellator, had to come into the UFC as a 32-year-old salty veteran and wanted a top-five guy right away. That was the path that I wanted. I told [UFC CBO] Hunter Campbell that when I sat in his office, ‘I don’t want to putz around the top 20, top 25. I don’t need a tune-up fight. I want to get thrown into the shark-infested waters of the lightweight division.’ That is what I have done since September 2020.
“Paddy’s good, he’s growing,” Chandler continued. “I think the pressure I’m going to put on him, he’s obviously going to keep that evading [style], throwing a lot of kicks, kind of throwing some wild punches, trying to keep things interesting in there, because he knows when one of these hands lands, it’s going to be different than Jordan Leavitt. It’s going to be different than Bobby Green. It’s going to be different than a lot of the guys he has fought. But I’m up to the challenge. Prove me right, prove me wrong — let’s see what happens.”
UFC 314 already appears to be one of the most loaded cards of the year, at least on paper. In a surprising twist of fate, Chandler will be joined by an old rival on the card, as former four-time Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull makes his UFC debut in a featherweight tilt opposite Yair Rodriguez.
Pitbull, 37, enters the UFC in a similar manner as Chandler did. Both did all they could do in Bellator and established themselves as two of the promotion’s all-time best — Pitbull at featherweight and Chandler at lightweight. Although their UFC paths differed — Pitbull requested his PFL release while Chandler explored free agency — Chandler expects his ex-foe to have a similar experience and realization.
“[I’m] not surprised at him [signing with UFC] or the laundry list of everybody who is tweeting at Donn Davis and PFL [asking for their release],” Chandler said of Pitbull.
“It just continues to solidify that the UFC is the only place for mixed martial arts. Take it from me. Take it from a guy like Patricio Pitbull. Two years from now, a year from now, sit him on your show and have him answer honestly what the difference is and how much bigger it is, how much more significant it is over here. And if he plays his cards right and does his job, how much more lucrative it is. It’s just very interesting, man, because obviously I think I have the best perspective of anybody in mixed martial arts when it comes to the significance of the UFC. I love the UFC, not because it’s the UFC.
“I love UFC because I know what the opposite of the UFC is. I know what it’s like being outside of the UFC. I know what it’s like to go to UFC events and have people ask me to take pictures of Ryan Bader and Gray Maynard and Michael Johnson and Robbie Lawler, and then ask me who I am, and I’m like, ‘Well, I actually just beat Eddie Alvarez a couple of months ago.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re that Bellator guy.’
“I know what it’s like, right?” he continued. “So I bit my tongue, I swallowed my pride. I kept working, I kept my nose to the grindstone. I patiently waited, biding my time. Built my platform, built my skill set, built my mind, body, and soul and spirit until it was the right time. And that door — it was abundant and clear that the door was open to go to the UFC, and now it’s worked out perfectly. I think if you asked 80% of the roster of PFL, GFL, Bellator, all these other ones, they want to be right where I’m at.”
For now, both Chandler and Pitbull have business to worry about in their respective UFC divisions. And considering his recent run, Chandler is supremely motivated to secure his first win since 2022.
“I don’t need to hate Paddy Pimblett to want to separate him from consciousness,” Chandler said. “I don’t need to have any kind of animosity to absolutely eviscerate this man. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was 14 years old. And I prefer a fight like this.”
