Michael
Chandler promises to bring a different version of himself at
UFC
309.
Advertisement
Chandler faces Charles
Oliveira in a five-round co-headliner on Saturday at Madison
Square Garden in New York. The two will be running it back from
their initial encounter at UFC 262 in 2021, when Chandler suffered
a second-round technical knockout loss.
Chandler and Oliveira clashed for the vacant lightweight title in
the main event at UFC 262. “Iron” hurt Oliveira multiple times in
the opening stanza, even threatening the jiu-jitsu specialist with
a guillotine. However, “do Bronx” turned the tables early in Round
2 by clipping Chandler with a left hook and raining a barrage of
punches to get the stoppage.
Chandler claims he will right some wrongs from that fight in their
rematch at UFC 309. The former Bellator champ plans to gradually
break his opponent down instead of rushing for the finish like he
did in their first matchup. Chandler believes he is invincible in a
five rounder at lightweight if he can maintain his composure.
“When I smell a finish about to happen, I am gonna slowly continue
to put pressure on instead of trying to rush,” Chandler said in the
UFC 309 Countdown video. “The way it was always supposed to be.
Sometimes you gotta take a loss to put yourself back up. Then
overcome the odds and right a wrong. I think that’s what this is
gonna be. There is not a man alive at 155 pounds that can hang with
me for 25 minutes if I fight composed and smart. That’s who I am
now. And I’m excited to go out there and show that on Nov. 16.”
Jones vs Miocic. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order
Now!
Michael Chandler working with Kamaru Usman
ahead of his fight against Charles Oliveira 💪— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
November 9, 2024
Chandler hasn’t fought since a submission loss to Dustin
Poirier in 2022 that made him 1-3 in his last four, albeit
against top tier competition. After awaiting a Conor
McGregor booking for the majority of the last two years, the
38-year-old has now shifted focus to title contention.
Meanwhile, Oliveira is coming off a split-decision loss in a title
eliminator against Arman
Tsarukyan at UFC 300 this past April.