There are a lot of us that feel like the UFC doesn’t really know what to do with newly signed lightweight Michael Chandler. Michael was extremely successful in the Bellator organization and there are high hopes for him from fans now that he is in the biggest organization in the world. The problem is, and it’s not an easy one to solve, who he should fight first and when?
Chandler from day one has been begging for opponents that inhabit the top tier of the lightweight division. If you remember when Cro Cop was first signed they put him against a lower tier fighter and he was victorious as expected. I was among the many who thought he would just come in and demolish the entire heavyweight division. I was eating those words when Gabriel Gonzaga kicked him to another planet. Mixed martial arts is complex when it comes to matchmaking. In boxing for the most part you know what you are getting but you can ask Kimbo slice what it’s like when you try that in MMA. Seth Petruzelli slowed that hype train to a dead stop and no one wants that for Chandler. Cherry picking doesn’t work out for promoters as many times as it backfires.
We agree with Michael that someone of his caliber should fight an equal. The fight he is asking for makes a lot of sense right now. Justin Gaethje just lost to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who promptly retired after his victory. The belt is up for grabs and with a very deep and talented division things need to be sorted out and quickly. Conor McGregor is fighting Dustin Poirier and the winner of that fight could fight the winner of Chandler and his opponent and there we have the makings of a title fight.
Listen to what Michael told TMZ.
What do you think of this fight?