Michael Chandler might take on Justin Gaethje by the end of the year
Chandler had a night to forget at UFC 262. After having made a bright start, ‘Iron Mike’ was demolished in the second round of his lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira.
However, a gutted Chandler took the loss like a champion and is now up and running. There have been talks of the UFC newcomer facing number 2 ranked Justin Gaethje, of late.
Former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez recently opened up on Chandler facing Gaethje. Alvarez felt that Gaethje would be a terrible matchup for Chandler:
I think Gaethje is a terrible match-up for him. And I think he should probably stay away from Gaethje. That’s not a good match-up for him. [via Bloody Elbow]
Chandler recently responded to Alvarez’s comments. Speaking to Damon Martin of MMA fighting, Chandler refuted Alvarez’s claims saying that he would definitely beat Justin Gaethje and make sure that he is knocked out cold.
“I’ll tell you this — if Eddie Alvarez can beat Justin Gaethje, I can definitely beat Justin Gaethje. I won’t just TKO him. I believe I’ll knock Justin Gaethje out cold. I’ll keep a high pace just like Eddie did. It will be a very fun fight. It’s a fight people want to see.” [via Bloody Elbow]
Chandler will be looking forward to putting his disappointing loss at UFC 262 behind, and get back on to the title picture soon.
Justin Gaethje has been out of action for quite a while
The last time Gaethje stepped inside the Octagon, it was October 2020. He faced Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254, which ended up being the Russian’s last fight in his MMA career.
Despite having lost that fight, Gaethje is still ranked in the top 3 of the lightweight rankings, meaning he is just a win away from getting the title shot.
In case he fights Chandler, a win for ‘The Highlight’ would surely earn him a title shot, probably against the winner of Conor McGregor or Dustin Poirier vs Charles Oliveira.
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