Michael Chandler entered the UFC with a bang in 2021 by quickly knocking out Dan Hooker. Since then, his record sits at 2-2 with one of those losses being to Charles Oliveira in a failed attempt to capture the UFC lightweight championship. His 2021 fight of the year with Justin Gaethje and his brutal knockout of former interim champion Tony Ferguson has made Michael a fan favorite. He is now lobbying for another shot at the belt.
With the lightweight title picture being a traffic jam and the possibility of featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski making the jump up it could get worse. This means that guys like Chandler might have to fight many times before getting another shot at the belt. Still, the jam up won’t stop fighters from campaigning for a title shot, especially since the former champion Charles Oliveira was forced to give up the belt after missing weight in his bout with Justin Gaethje at UFC 274. To make matters worse he defeated Gaethje meaning the belt remained vacant and the matchmakers had an instant headache.
Surging contender and prodigy, Islam Makachev (#4 PMN rankings) is on an amazing ten fight win streak and ready for his shot at gold. It would be hard to deny his claim to it. With Oliveira unlikely to be next in line the question remains as to who should fight Islam. Justin Gaethje (#3 PMN rankings) just lost to Oliveira but it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for him to be a candidate. Dustin Poirier (#2 PMN rankings) lost to Oliveira at UFC 269 but he could also be a possibility as well as the above mentioned Michael Chandler (#5 PMN rankings). As we said, it’s a mess. Sometimes the most vocal gets the shot. Chandler has never been shy about using his voice and he has taken to Instagram to call his.
Hey, Charles (Oliveira), do your thing, bro. Wait till Conor comes back, you deserve it. On a couple fight win streak, smashing through everybody. Why don’t you sit out? Wait for Conor to come back, I’ll keep the division warm, I’ll keep the division going. I’ll fight Islam next – I’ll fight Islam for the title.
Chandler wants Oliveira to fight Conor McGregor (coming off of back to back losses) and for himself to face the streaking Makhachev? If this booking happens it confirms that sometimes it’s like we are living in an alternate universe. What do you think?