Michael Chandler Comes Clean on Decision to Stop Fighting ‘Smarter’ – “Doesn’t Work”

Michael Chandler has been famously accused of having the “worst fight IQ in the UFC” by his critics. And there does seem to be a fair bit of truth in these claims. After all, ‘Iron’ is famous for throwing caution to the wind and going all-out, all offense from the very first bell. It is safe to say that it has often led to his detriment.

As a result, the former Bellator champion is 2-4 in the UFC so far. Moreover, he has lost virtually every fight with elite-level guys in the promotion so far. However, it seems the Missouri native has no plans to change his approach to fighting anytime soon. At least that is what he told MMA coach extraordinaire Tim Welch in a recent interview on the latter’s YouTube channel.

“I will admit you can do it in wrestling because you’re not getting hit in the face, right? You can be constantly on offense and maybe you get taken down, who cares, get back up and, you know, try to get that takedown back. In the sport of mixed martial arts, obviously, you can get clipped so you need to be a little bit smarter and I haven’t shown a lot of smarts in a lot of my fights. But a lot of times it’s worked out. People can go and look at my record and say ‘Man, if he would have just fought smarter, he would have beat this guy,'” Chandler explained.

For the unversed, Chandler is an NCAA standout. The irony is that he rarely uses his ground game in a fight, preferring to strike with his opponents. After all, the American has said that he is only interested in having exciting fights and entertaining the fans, even if he loses. And fans always love a good striker, especially one who is willing to go all-out all the time like Chandler. Not to mention ‘Iron’ sees a lot of merit in his approach to fighting.

“But truthfully, if I would have fought smarter, I could have lost a couple of fights that I won because I put pressure on people and they feel uncomfortable. And a lot of times I can get the finish. But when you’re fighting the best guys in the world… sometimes it just doesn’t work against those guys,” he added. One person against whom ‘Iron’ might find success, because of the stylistic matchup, is Conor McGregor. But will Chandler ever actually get to fight the Irishman? Well, let’s take a look.

What are the prospects of a Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler fight?

Conor McGregor‘s long-awaited UFC return is shelved, at least for now. And while ‘Mystic Mac’ insists that he wants to return to MMA soon, most fans are unconvinced. After all, the bombastic Dubliner is doing everything but preparing for a UFC comeback. First, there was the whole thing about McGregor fighting Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition. But that isn’t happening, as McGregor admitted recently.

Now the Irishman had a face-off with Jeremy Stephens after the latter’s victory at BKFC Knucklemania V. Stephens, of course, is the infamous “who the fook is that guy” guy and has an existing storyline with McGregor. The Irishman went as far as to tell BKFC President David Feldman to “make the date”. Of course, this might be McGregor talking trash to generate headlines for the promotion, of which he is part owner.

On the other hand, the Dubliner may well be serious. Of course, he is still signed with the UFC and cannot fight in the BKFC, but it must be tempting for the Irishman to try and get out of it somehow. After all, he can make a lot of money boxing much easier opponents than in the UFC. This cost-benefit analysis is precisely why many believe ‘Mystic Mac’ will never be back in the Octagon. And where does that leave Chandler? Well, with two wasted years of his life at a very crucial time in his career.

‘Iron’, of course, didn’t fight between mid-2022 and late 2024 waiting for McGregor. But the fight got pushed back time and time again. Finally, the UFC announced McGregor would face Chandler at UFC 303 in June last year, but that date fell apart too because the Irishman got injured.

Seeing the writing on the wall, ‘Iron’ finally took another fight at UFC 309. However, he still maintains that he will be McGregor’s next UFC opponent. The American even called out ‘Mystic Mac’ after losing to Charles Oliveira at UFC 309, undoubtedly still hoping to get his own ‘red-pa–y night’. However, it seems increasingly unlikely that he ever will. What do you think about Michael Chandler’s defense of his fighting style?