Michael Chandler has voiced his opinion on Charles Oliveira’s UFC 274 weight miss.
Oliveira was scheduled to defend his 155-pound title against Justin Gaethje in the pay-per-view (PPV) main event. However, Oliveira weighed in half a pound overweight and was thus stripped of the title, which was rendered vacant.
As a result, Gaethje was the only man eligible to win the belt in their fight. Despite this, Oliveira pulled off the first-round submission win via rear-naked choke. Now, Oliveira is guaranteed a shot at the vacant belt in his next fight. The only thing left to determine will be his opponent.
Also on that card, Michael Chandler got himself back in the contender’s mix with a massive second-round knockout win over Tony Ferguson.
Speaking on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Chandler offered his thoughts on Oliveira’s weight miss. Chandler said there’s no excuse for missing weight, and the cut truly starts weeks out from the contest.
“I will definitely never, never, ever, ever, give the benefit of the doubt that it’s a possibility, man. You got a contract and you signed that contract and the contracted weight. I have weighed in now 30 times in mixed martial arts, and 100 and something times before that in the sport of wrestling, I have never missed weight.
“The weight cut started way before that last morning. The weight cut started way before that last week. The weight cut starts 10 weeks, 12 weeks before the fight, when you consistently are disciplined inside of the kitchen, consistently disciplined with your supplementation… your roadwork, cardio, the extra work you need to do.”
Chandler noted that Oliveira probably isn’t too down on himself since he won the fight, but the fact that he’s no longer champion certainly has to sting. With that being said, Chandler remains firm that your first commitment as a UFC champion is making weight and believes Oliveira will clean things up moving forward.
“I would never kick a man while he’s down. I mean, Charles is not exactly down, he still won the fight. But it was unfortunate for him that he is not the champion anymore because he missed weight.
“But there was obviously a sentiment that everybody was just dumbfounded, especially as a champion. When you become the champion, you have even more of a reputation to uphold, and making weight is the first commitment that you make, that you have to see through… I’m sure Charles will clean it up, hopefully in the future.”
What do you make of Chandler’s stance on Oliveira’s weight-miss situation? Do you agree? Let us know in the comments section below!
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