With only one win in his last five outings, Michael Chandler can only ride on his Bellator hype for so long. And with the Conor McGregor fight not happening anytime soon, he’s beginning to look a bit silly having wasted a year or two of his prime on the Irishman. Now, he has an opportunity to be the gatekeeper for an up-and-comer looking to get into the Top 5 rankings. Can Chandler do this job successfully? The UFC lightweight believes so; he has a plan!
Chandler faces Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami in April. Pimblett is on a 6-fight win streak and has just made it to the top 15 rankings in the lightweight division. His performances have increasingly grown to be above his peers. So it only makes sense that the brass wants to promote him to the top quickly.
Chandler, on the other hand, is sitting on a 2-fight skid, having lost 4 of his 5 fights in the UFC. His last fight, despite last-round showboating against Charles Oliveira, was a one-sided affair in favor of the Brazilian. So, if he loses to Pimblett, his days as a marquee player will be numbered.
Interestingly, Chandler looks confident about stopping the scouser’s hype at UFC 314. Speaking to ESPN MMA about how he plans on getting the job done, Chandler said, “It’s a bad matchup stylistically for him [Paddy]…The Paddy train stops in Miami…I’m gonna land a right hand or a left hook and put his lights out within the first couple rounds.”
Michael Chandler predicts an early KO in his fight against Paddy Pimblett
“It’s a bad matchup stylistically for [Paddy]… I’m gonna land a right hand or a left hook and put his lights out within the first couple rounds.”
@espnmma #UFC314pic.twitter.com/XoQZoHXEUx
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 21, 2025
Paddy will take it with a huge grain of salt though, as will the fans. Chandler’s promises haven’t been worth a lot since he joined the UFC. It’s also primarily why this matchup shocked a majority of the UFC fanbase, who were expecting Chandler to still wait for McGregor.
Chandler’s not wasting time waiting for perfection
Chandler wasn’t actually thinking that the UFC was going to call him back this soon.
This is why he was initially hesitant. But despite the fear of a short training camp, he flew to Las Vegas to discuss the matchup with UFC officials and ultimately decided to take the fight.
Explaining that in the ever-moving landscape of the UFC, it was important to keep fighting, Chandler said, “We’re fighting Paddy Pimblett in Miami, 12 April, because an imperfect plan implemented now is better than a perfect plan implemented months from now.
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Chandler acknowledged that Pimblett is a talented fighter with a promising future but made it clear that he intends to put on an explosive performance and secure a knockout victory.
With the lightweight division running out of top contenders and some of its major players towards the end of their careers, a major overhaul seems to be taking place at 155 lbs.
This could possibly be the reason behind the early call-up to the big leagues for Paddy. Now, it will depend on the scouser to prove he is more than that silly hairstyle and a whole lot of hype. And for Chandler, with every fight he loses, his chances of securing that big-money fight with McGregor get diminished significantly.
