“The simple fact of the matter is you’re the most unreliable human being that has ever graced mixed martial arts” – Michael Chandler grilled Conor McGregor with this statement in September of last year after the Charles Oliveira rematch announcement. “If Conor can finally get his house in order [and] can finally string together a couple of sober days, a couple of days where he can actually train and feel good and he can actually finally pony up, then I will fight Conor after I dispatch of Charles Oliveira,” he said. So, it’s surprising to see a complete 360-degree turn from Mr. Chandler in his latest statement.

In his recent interview with Brendan Tobin, Chandler opened up about his time off the court and how he sees the taunts and insults that were thrown at him for the long wait for the McGregor bout. Mockingly, Tobin wanted to know if Chandler ever got restless about the fight against The Irishman getting delayed. Especially when it is because of reasons outside the fighting world. In his calm and clear manner, the 38-year-old answered, “No, not really. Because Conor is a very unique individual, and he has always acted like that. He’s been acting like that as long as any of us can remember. So just because a man is (a) little bit crazy outside of the octagon, doesn’t mean he is not going to come back.

The former Bellator lightweight champion added, “And the other thing is, it’s like, hey he is on his yacht; he’s obviously not focused on fighting. It’s like, well hey, if you had a yacht, wouldn’t you be on your yacht if you don’t have your fight booked? So I just always looked it like that. People can make fun of me all they want; it’s fine. I wanted a little bit of time off, to be honest.”

Michael Chandler was set up for a big payday after his fifth UFC fight in 2022. Against none other than Conor McGregor, as part of the finale of The Ultimate Fighter, season 31. But the fight never came to fruition, mostly because of McGregor’s ‘outside the octagon’ businesses. Finally, Chandler turned towards other opponents after waiting for the fight to happen for nearly two years. The Missouri native’s two-year layoff was seen by the fans as a desperate move to wait for a huge payday. Some criticized him during this time, while others did not shy away from laughing at him.

Meanwhile, McGregor has tried to pursue fights other than Chandler, but to no success. He had his eyes on Dan Hooker for a while and Chandler was unfazed. It was as if he knew that if McGregor ever entered the UFC’s cage again, it would be against him. ‘‘Conor’s [McGregor] a very flavor of the week kind of guy. He just had a conversation with Dan Hooker… And be like, ‘Hey man, I like you, you like me, we can make some magic. Let’s fight each other.’ So, I looked no further than that, honestly,” he told Ariel Helwani, adding, ”I don’t think the UFC is going to be very keen on McGregor versus hooker compared to McGregor versus Chandler since we need to make this fight happen so I’m not really that worried about it… “

As things stand, Michael Chandler has another task ahead of him after taking the second non-McGregor fight since TUF 31 in 2023. He’ll be facing Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 in April, and it could be a tall order for the 5’8″ lightweight.

Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett go head-to-head at UFC 314 

Even after his tainted record of 2-4 in UFC, Chandler is still considered to be one of the most explosive in the division. He fought his 1st five UFC fights in 22 months, of which four were finishes. 2 out of them he got finished in, and the other two, were two of the most brutal finishes in the division (Dan Hooker & Tony Ferguson). His last fight was the second time clash against Charles Oliveira, where he lost via unanimous decision. The fight was a 5 round war and was awarded fight of the night. 

Michael Chandler (#7) will face the rising prospect, Paddy ‘the Baddy’ Pimblett (#12), at UFC 314 on April 12th in Miami, Florida. Pimblett is on a 6-fight winning streak of his own since his debut in the UFC in 2021. The anticipation of the fight is keeping the fans on the edge. Because both these fighters have the tendency to go forward, and both have displayed tremendous power in their earlier outings. It will be interesting to see if Pimblett will use Chandler as a stepping stone or if Chandler’s experience would be too much for him to handle.

Michael Chandler badly needs a win and Pimblett really needs a shot up the ladder. It’s hype vs. ranking in Miami in April. If Chandler were to lose, he’d likely drop out of the top 10 in the rankings, making him less appealing to Conor McGregor. It would also be three L’s in a row for the Missouri native. Will he let that happen? Who do you think takes this fight? Let us know in the comments.