“I think anywhere this fight goes, I’m gonna win. The only way I lose here is if I get hit with a big, crazy, wild shot on the chin. And as you all know, Scousers don’t get knocked out.” Paddy Pimblett quipped as he joined Michael Chandler on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel for a video chat just two days back. “Scousers don’t get knocked out apparently, but they’ve never been hit by the likes of me.” Chandler returned the favor with a scathing jab of his own. It is safe to say that the UFC 314 featured bout is a contest between young blood and the old guard!

Fresh off a loss to Charles Oliveira that might have made other fighters hit pause, Chandler is doing the opposite—gearing up for another blockbuster. ‘Iron’ didn’t plan on returning so soon, but a call from Hunter Campbell during his vacation changed everything. With zero hesitation, he accepted the fight against Pimblett. For the Englishman, this bout is more than just a matchup—it’s a chance for Pimblett to solidify his position in the lightweight division. In fact, the fighter himself is eyeing a title shot if he wins the fight against Chandler.

Islam Makhachev is widely seen as the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, and Pimblett wishes to land a fight against him, probably next year. “The plan is to beat Michael Chandler, then fight again in Abu Dhabi in October,” Pimblett told TNT Sports. “Hopefully, I get to fight someone in the top four, top five, and then I can ask for a title shot in 2026.”

Interesting fact: Chandler has a 1-3 record since he was defeated by Charles Oliveira in the UFC 262 title headliner in 2021. Quite intriguingly, almost every fighter who defeated him during this phase has gone on to compete for the lightweight strap!

• Justin Gaethje defeated Chandler at UFC 268 and earned a title shot against Oliveira at UFC 274
• Dustin Poirier defeated Chander at UFC 281 and got a vacant BMF shot against Gaethje
• Charles Oliveira defeated Chandler at UFC 309 and was thought to land a fight against champion Islam Makhachev and even seen cageside during Makhachev’s fight against Oliveira’s Brazilian countryman Renato Moicano in January at UFC 311.

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping lately broke down the matchup on his YouTube channel, speaking on just how pivotal this fight could be for both men, and ‘The Count’ seemed on board with the idea of a title fight for Pimblett.

“Paddy Pimblett is not necessarily put up or shut up for him. If he loses to Michael Chandler, he is still a young guy. It’ll be his first loss in UFC, but it’s not the end of the world. It’ll be a bump in the road, he’ll have to regroup, he’ll have to rebound, and he’ll have to start the win streak again. But if he gets the job done against Michael Chandler. And he just might do that if he can do that. I’m telling you, Paddy Pimblett is probably one fight away from fighting for the belt.”

The former champ added that even if fans think Pimblett ‘cherry-picked’ his fight matchups, the competition was aggressive. Bisping said, “He was slow rolled much like a lot of other fighters. Suga Sean O’Malley, along the way, I didn’t always fight the best competition. But the competition has progressively gotten harder for Paddy Pimblett.”

Pimblett has faced tough opponents like Jared Gordon, Tony Ferguson, and King Green—and managed to win against them. On the other hand, the Missouri native is already 38 years old, and as a former Bellator champ, he’s at the twilight of his career. But that does not take away his grit. Back in February, he even laid out how exactly he would defeat Pimblett.

Top Comment by Brad

I see chandler as a gatekeeper and nothing more.

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Predicting to knock Pimblett out within the first few rounds of their five-round battle, he said, “That first time that he gets hit by one of the toughest punchers in the UFC lightweight division, which he has not faced yet, it’s gonna be a different feeling, it’s gonna be a different speed, it’s gonna be a ferocity that he hasn’t felt before. I do believe he’s got some momentum right now but the Paddy train stops in Miami and he’s gonna have to go back to the drawing board.” Bisping believes Chandler does need to do this to reenter the title conversation and remain relevant in the division.

Michael Bisping gives Michael Chandler a reality check ahead of UFC 314

Michael Bisping also shared his thoughts and offered a straightforward reality check for ‘Iron’. “For Michael Chandler, if Chandler can’t beat Paddy Pimblett, then again, all this championship talk needs to stop. ‘They see you at the top stuff’—you might have seen Chandler, he’s dressing up in the Paddy wig and looking ripped! The man never stops, okay? But he’s got to win, otherwise, he’s got to stop about seeing you at the top.”

On the other hand, among the many veterans weighing in on this showdown, Daniel Cormier showed his support for Chandler. During a recent episode of the Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast, ‘DC’ backed the veteran’s firepower: “One thing Paddy Pimblett better realize, Chael, is that he cannot get hit by Iron Mike. Because that right hand will shut your lights out. But I have to say, Paddy looked incredible against Bobby Green—I’ve never seen him perform better.”

Chandler undeniably brings more experience to the table and has the explosive skill set to bounce back into the win column. Pimblett, however, is riding a wave of momentum and confidence. All questions will be answered on fight night—April 12 at UFC 314. Are you ready to see how it all unfolds? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!