Michael Chandler picks the hardest hitter out of Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje
Since joining the premier MMA promotion in 2020, Michael Chandler has had no easy fights in the UFC.
In his promotional debut, the former Bellator lightweight champion was thrown into the deep end against Dan Hooker at UFC 257. He secured an emphatic first-round knockout victory over the Kiwi fighter.
Since then, Chandler has faced elite lightweights like former interim champions Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, and former undisputed titleholder Charles Oliveira. 'Iron' Michael Chandler has compiled a promotional record of 2-3, with only one of those fights going to the scorecards.
When asked by a fan on Twitter who's the hardest hitter out of Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, Chandler pointed to 'The Diamond'.
El Diamante 💎 https://t.co/BIGvkSSgdw
Michael Chandler lost to all three of the aforementioned fighters in the organization.
Right after beating Dan Hooker, Chandler faced Oliveira for the lightweight title at UFC 262. Though Chandler almost finished Oliveira in the first round, 'Do Bronx' came back strong in the second to finish 'Iron' via TKO.
Chandler then faced Justin Gaethje at UFC 268, where he and 'The Highlight' fought in a barnburner. Ultimately, Gaethje emerged the winner via unanimous decision.
Michael Chandler's last fight was against Dustin Poirier at UFC 281, where they fought three grueling rounds. In the final frame, Poirier found a rear-naked choke finish after reversing a back-take attempt by Chandler.
VIOLENCE DELIVERED 🤩
As advertised, Dustin Poirier v Michael Chandler was everything we wanted and more 👏
#UFC281 https://t.co/zh1NpEL5sN
Despite losing three of his five bouts, Chandler was on the receiving end of a bonus for each of those five fights.
He is currently coaching the 31st edition of The Ultimate Fighter against 'The Notorious' Conor McGregor, and is slated to fight the Irishman once the season finishes airing.
"They don't like each other" - Dana White on Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler's altercation on TUF 31
It seems like things were destined to get testy between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler on TUF 31. Both are former champions who have larger-than-life personalities, and both are confident that they can beat the other.
According to Dana White, things were respectful between McGregor and Chandler but quickly soured between the two. At the UFC 285 post-fight press conference, Dana White spoke of a confrontation between the two fighters, referring to it as something that shouldn't have happened.
Here's what White said:
"Chandler and Conor were very respectful to each other, and then some things started escalating that you’ll see on the show. They do not like each other now. A lot of s**t went down on Friday. I don’t look at [that] stuff like that’s good for the show or things like that. Whatever happens, happens. The stuff that just happened shouldn’t have happened. And I’m getting old. I would have been in there sooner back in the days but, yeah - not good."
Here's Dana White talking about the altercation between McGregor and Chandler: