Michael Chandler Explains Why He Accepted Charles Oliveira Matchup

Michael
Chandler had to move on from a long-anticipated booking with
Conor
McGregor to a matchup against Charles
Oliveira.

McGregor hasn’t fought since suffering a leg break in his trilogy
fight with Dustin
Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. “Notorious” starred opposite
Chandler as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 31” in 2023 with
a future clash planned between the two.

After multiple delays in McGregor’s return timeline, they were
finally scheduled to headline UFC 303 this past June. However, the
Irishman pulled out two weeks before fight night due a toe injury.
Meanwhile, Chandler also hasn’t fought since a submission loss to
Poirier at UFC 281 in 2022, mostly due to awaiting a fight against
McGregor.

Chandler will finally return to action in a rematch against
Oliveira in a five-round co-headliner at UFC 309
on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. “Iron” recently
revealed how he moved on from the McGregor fight after waiting
nearly two years. When their UFC 303 matchup was canceled, Chandler
was admittedly dejected for a while. However, Chandler continued to
training, as he was determined to get back in action — be it
against McGregor or someone else.

And while a McGregor fight certainly promises a huge payday,
Chandler believes his matchup against “do Bronx” is the next best
thing. Chandler is also considering the fight to be a title
eliminator, or at least a big step on his way back to title
contention.

“I felt sorry for myself for a couple of days… licked my wounds for
a couple of days and then got back on the horse and continued to
train,” Chandler told New York Post Sports. “Because I knew either the fight
with Conor was gonna be rebooked pretty quick or it wasn’t, and I
was gonna go fight someone else. And now here we are, this
opportunity, huge opportunity against Charles Oliveira. No. 1
contender fight, co-main event, five rounds on the Jon Jones vs.
Stipe [card] at the Madison Square Garden, the world’s most iconic
arena. It’s not the Conor fight but if you could think of a next
best thing, this is definitely it and now we’re working towards the
title.”

While Chandler has dropped three of last four, they were all
against elite competition— including a submission loss to Oliveira
in 2021. Meanwhile, Oliveira has sandwiched a KO win over Beneil
Dariush between a title loss to Islam
Makhachev and a split-decision loss against Arman
Tsarukyan in a title eliminator.