With the opportunity to possibly feature at UFC 254 on October 24 – new promotional signing, Michael Chander has compared his skill set to current interim lightweight titleholder, Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje – labelling a potential short-notice pairing with the Arizonian, as possibly, “the best fight in UFC history“.
Chandler recently put pen to paper on a deal which would see him link up with the UFC – following a gold laden ten-year stint with Bellator MMA. Speaking upon his arrival in the promotion, organization leader, Dana White confirmed Chandler would travel to ‘Fight Island’ in Abu Dhabi for the Octagon pay-per-view – where he would make weight, acting as backup to the event headliner between Khabib Nurmagomedov, and the above noted, Gaethje.
Chandler was reportedly offered a clash with former interim gold holder, Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier for his Octagon debut, with the bout failing to come to fruition – after the promotion and Poirier failed to come to terms on a deal, with the latter also returning the loyaly shown to him by Tony Ferguson, who advocated for him after their failed matching.
Speaking about the possibility of a clash with Gaethje during an Instagram live session, Chandler detailed how he believes he’s got the better skillset when matched with the Elevation Fight Team trainee, but spoke very highly of the potential bout to boot.
“I have more power than he (Justin Gaethje) does,” Chandler said. “I think I could string together the wrestling and the grappling and the striking better than he can, and it will be the biggest fight possibly in UFC history when me and Justin Gaethje step into the cage.” (H/T MMA Junkie)
The Missouri native, who plys his trade at Sanford MMA in South Florida – joins the UFC’s books, following a two-fight winning run under the Bellator banner. Scoring two first-round knockouts, the wrestling and knockout ace secured a stoppage over Dana White’s Contender Series alum, Sidney ‘Da Gun’ Outlaw in December of last year – before a second career win over former WEC and UFC 155-pound best, Benson ‘Smooth’ Henderson in August.