“Things happen in a fight. Are you going to reach over and grab the cage? Are you going to get your fingers in the glove? Yeah. Those things are going to happen in a fight.” Michael Chandler recently addressed the barrage of cheating allegations in an interview with MMA Fighting ahead of his five-round showdown against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314. ‘Iron’ is known for bringing the storm inside the Octagon with his intense fighting style which has made him one of the most entertaining lightweights to watch. However, the #7 ranked lightweight has also been accused of employing ‘dirty’ tactics such as rabbit punches and fish hooking in his outings against Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. Safe to say that these three are going to send each other Christmas cards anytime soon!

The UFC is no stranger when it comes to witnessing fouls. You can switch on a fight night event and find some sort of fouls like — cage grabbing, fingers inside the gloves, eye pokes, and also strikes to the back of the head. They are definitely illegal, but common, and sometimes tend to go unpunished by the referee. This is something Paddy Pimblett also mentioned when talking about Chandler’s UFC 309 outing and questioned Chandler’s intentions as he delivered about 12 unanswered shots at the back of Oliveira’s head. Moreover, the Liverpudlian even blamed the referee for failing to take any prompt action. However, some notable figures are coming in Chandler’s defense. The most recent being former middleweight champion Michael Bisping. 

‘The Count’ took to his YouTube channel and said, “First of all, I don’t see a cheater when I look at Michael Chandler. I see a fighter that gives us exactly why we tune into the UFC. It’s fighters like Michael Chandler who have made this sport so great in the first place. He goes out there and fights his goddamn hearts out. And yeah, sometimes doesn’t stick to the plan, doesn’t have the smartest fight IQ, doesn’t lean on his wrestling, because he wants to go out there and knock out his opponents and he delivers fight of the year contenders time after time, and that is why we are gonna tune in this weekend against Paddy Pimblett. Because it’s almost guaranteed fireworks. That’s what we love about Michael Chandler.”

The former champ added, “So when it comes to the cheating side of things, these rules that they have in place that’s all well and good. If you’re sitting on the sidelines, you’re the referee, or you’re the judge, or a commentator, or a spectator sitting at home, you can remember the rules. But, when you’re the one sitting there on your back, you have a world-class opponent on top of you, dropping elbows on your face, getting you in a thigh clinch, just ramming knees into your mouth and smashing your nose to pieces okay, sometimes you’re not thinking about the rules, sometimes at that moment you’re thinking about survival.”

Bisping seems to have made somewhat of a valid point regarding the nature of fights. An MMA bout is an intense encounter, and expecting it to be too clean can be unrealistic. However, while most fouls are unintentional on the part of the fighters, they still pose a serious problem in terms of maintaining the flow of the contest and making it feel more sanitized. 

A recent example is the fight between Song Yadong and Henry Cejudo, which was significantly affected by eye pokes, ultimately ruining the flow of the entire event. There have been many instances like this involving various types of fouls. Although the frequency of these instances has been reduced, we can still hope for further improvements to minimize their occurrence in the future. As we’re anticipated to watch Michael Chandler in action against Paddy Pimblett this weekend, let’s see how ‘Iron’ is preparing himself for the fight. 

Michael Chandler is mentally ready to face the threat of Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314

Michael Chandler definitely can be a little brash with his approach, but it has to be recognized that the audience has nothing but applause after ‘Iron’ concludes the bout with an amazing speech or a call out. He has a total of 5 performances of the night bonuses which is nothing but a testament to his grit inside the Octagon. 

Amidst the controversy, the former Bellator champ is looking mentally tough and focused on his target Paddy Pimblett. He wants to show everyone that he can bounce back and keep his spot in the rankings. ‘Iron’ is determined and he believes the Englishman will know the the magnitude of the threat as soon as the horn sounds. 

During a UFC 314 interview, Chandler said, “I’ve never once hit the breaks. I’ve never slowed down and I’ve never taken no for an answer. Sometimes it gets me a win and sometimes it gets me a loss. But I always pick myself up and get in these big fights. Now, we’re on the co-main event five rounds in Miami. I plan on coming and stealing the show. I’m excited to go out there and mix it up with Paddy I think he will feel it right away in the first exchange.”

What do you think about Michael Bisping’s defense of Michael Chandler? Please comment below!