Eddie Alvarez showers praises on "GOAT" Jim Miller while taking digs at Michael Chandler following UFC 309
Michael Chandler and Jim Miller faced different fates at UFC 309. The former UFC lightweight king Eddie Alvarez shared his reaction to the event by appreciating Miller's performance, but he looked nowhere impressed by Chandler's antics.
Miller took to the UFC 309 octagon ahead of Chandler for his prelims fight against Damon Jackson. The 41-year-old finished his rival with a guillotine choke in the very first round of their fight, earning massive appreciation from the crowd.
But Chandler failed to secure a win against Charles Oliveira. 'Iron' couldn't do much throughout the first four rounds of the fight. But his explosiveness in the final round breathed life into the UFC 309 co-main event. However, Charles Oliveira defeated the 38-year-old through a unanimous decision.
Alvarez clarified his opinions about both Miller and Chandler with a tweet. He labeled Miller as the "lightweight GOAT" besides firing a shot at a catchphrase regularly used by Chandler. Alvarez penned:
"My new lightweight goat is @JimMiller_155. I'm willing to argue with anyone. And we will unfortunately not be seeing Chandler “At the Top”…. We are officially rebranding to, “I’ll see you at the ?????????"...Help me out here guys."
Charles Oliveira gives out his take on the illegal moves used by Michael Chandler during the fight
The UFC 309 audience at Madison Square Garden enjoyed Michael Chandler's efforts towards the end of the co-main event fight, irrespective of the results. During his last hurrah, 'Iron' planted several back-of-the-head strikes on Charles Oliveira. Moreover, he also grabbed the fence multiple times to save himself from the Brazilian's submissions.
The encounter ended with mutual respect between the two. But the post-event press conference had Oliveira revealing his disappointment about the referee doing nothing to stop Chandler from using the illegal moves. He said:
"I'm not here to criticize, but I'm going to tell you something. There were a lot of blows to the back of the head, and a lot of fence-grabbing. There was also some eye-pokes, and I was telling [the referee] what was going on. I kept calling for his attention, and nothing would happen. I would hope that he would intervene, but nothing happened." [Through translator]
Check out Charles Oliveira's comments below (02:09):