5 days Ago By Tom Llewellyn
Strong as Iron: Former Bellator champion and popular UFC lightweight contender ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler showed grit and determination in his incredible rematch with Charles Oliveira at MSG. Despite exiting the world’s most famous arena with a unanimous decision loss, Michael Chandler remains a bonified MMA superstar and the UFC CEO was quick to celebrate the insanity that he consistently delivers in the octagon. Dana White celebrates the insanity that Michael Chandler consistently delivers Aside from some controversy over strikes to the back of Charles Oliveira’s head, Michael Chandler’s stock rose once again on Saturday evening as he battled through adversity in the fantastic co-main event of UFC 309 .
“He’s like an Arturo Gatti,” hailed Dana White at the post-fight press conference , acknowledging that the American is “one of those guys where win, lose or draw, you’re never bummed out at the end of a Michael Chandler fight. “He’s always exciting, he’s always fun. I mean, the last round of that fight, he kept getting taken down, he got on his back.
.. So, when he got on his back at the end, he just stood up and started slamming him.
” Following his rematch against ‘do Bronx’, Michael Chandler is sadly 2-4 in the UFC, with big wins over Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson , but losses coming at the hands of Justin Gaethje , Dustin Poirier , and now Oliveira twice. Already at 38 years old, there had been concerns that ‘Iron’ could have called it quits after what was his ninth career defeat; thankfully, Dana White stated that he’s not going anywhere. “The kid always tries to win; he always comes to fight and Michael Chandler’s always going to have a home here.
.. Until he decides to retire, Michael Chandler isn’t going anywhere.
” Speaking to Joe Rogan in the octagon, Chandler would revert to his callout of Conor McGregor , with White confirming just a few hours later that ‘Notorious’ is set to return in late 2025. UFC 309 : Israel Adesanya shares crazy live reaction to epic moment from Oliveira vs Chandler 2 “Will he fight Conor? I don’t know..
. Conor’s going to come back in late 2025 so there’s a lot of time before we figure out who’s going to fight Conor.” Michael Chandler says his form in sparring didn’t match his UFC 309 performance Speaking with Megan Olivi via ESPN MMA , Michael Chandler admitted that whilst he was immensely proud of himself for fighting so hard after a two-year layoff, his performance at UFC 309 did not match the form he’d shown in sparring.
“I’ve got to be honest; this was the best I have ever felt in my entire life leading into a fight, but I also have to be honest and say that I just was not 100% feeling it tonight. “Getting my footing in there, feeling like I was in a good rhythm; I won’t call it ring rust because I don’t believe in ring rust, I just did not put a performance on in the fight like I was in sparring for the past 10 weeks.” The inspirational lightweight was extremely emotional after the loss, understandably so, describing that fifth round as a “culmination of the last few years” and all that entailed.
WOW : Charles Oliveira makes huge injury admission following UFC 309 win “The patience, the discipline, the freaking taking it on the chin for two years, hearing all the naysayers...
I make no excuses; I’m not asking for a pity party. “I am proud of myself, I stand confidently on my own two feet, I felt like those first four rounds were going to be a culmination of the rocky story that is Michael Chandler in the UFC.” Will his hardship be rewarded with a Conor McGregor fight in 2025 – if anyone deserves that ‘Notorious’ spot, it’s ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler.
EXPLAINED : Dana White confirms ‘permanent’ change to how the UFC operates following failed experiment.
