“Sooner or Later”: Michael Chandler Hails Islam Makhachev’s UFC 302 Victory, Teases Future Bout

Islam Makhachev is the ultimate prestige fight in the UFC in any division. A win over him not only grants you an undisputed title but it’s so much more about who can actually defeat this guy. Well, ahead of his Conor McGregor fight, Michael Chandler has put his hand up to test the immortality of the UFC lightweight champion.

But not to fret, it wasn’t just a callout, or any callout for that matter. Chandler was just appreciative of the great show both Islam and Dustin Poirier put up at UFC 302.  The fight exceeded all expectations as both fighters left it all inside the ring.

Poirier smashed Islam’s head and gave him the fight of his life but in the end, as champions do, Islam found a way to choke him out via a D’Arce and finish the fight. This fight impressed Chandler and he let Islam know it on Twitter.

Michael Chandler is currently four weeks away from fighting Conor McGregor at UFC 303. However, seeing Dustin get this close to an unlikely victory seems to have ignited the idea of a championship fight in Chandler’s head.

“Last night @MAKHACHEVMMA showed a lot of versatility and grit in an otherwise adversity-less run thus far….Stellar championship performance. See you, sooner or later. #ufc302”

 

This was by far Islam Makhachev’s toughest test in the octagon and he had to dig deep and find out what he was made up of. Even former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was of the opinion that this fight would help Islam grow as he had never faced such a challenge before.

Besides, this was the first time, Islam found himself in front of a skilled boxer with enough power to get dominated on the ground and still have enough gas to make the champ bleed and look for newer options.

Before this fight, Chandler had always criticized the champ for not having been in a dogfight. And since that situation has obviously changed, people on social media ensured Chandler was reminded of it.

Michael Chandler swallows his words following Makhachev’s victory at UFC 302

Chandler has a reputation for getting into mindless brawls during his fights. And as irresponsible as they are (just look at his UFC records), they are entertaining to watch. So of course, Chandler wanted to see the champ’s chin tested. Unfortunately, Islam has been so dominant that he had never been in that position of vulnerability until Poirier came along.

Now following the successful title defense at UFC 302 had to remind him of how he doubted Makhachev.

Chandler doubled down, however, and replied to the tweet claiming he meant what he said.

“I said it and I meant it…at the time.”

If Chandler wants the Islam fight he will first need to defeat Conor McGregor at UFC 303. And even then it could be some climb up the ladder for him with so many talented fighters in the UFC lightweight division.