Former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler signed with the UFC a few months ago and he is yet to make his UFC debut.
He was initially a back-up for the UFC 254 main event between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje. While the back-up tag didn’t come into fruition, he is still without a fight.
There were talks about Michael Chandler fighting Tony Ferguson in next month’s PPV card. The UFC 256 card lost its main attraction fights: Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns and Megan Anderson vs Amanda Nunes. However, Chandler declined the fight and now is willing to fight in the co-main event of UFC 257.
Tony Ferguson has been calling for the fight for quite some time now. He even took to Instagram where he tagged Dana White to book the fight and later also tagged Chandler and said,’ Michael Chandler you Putz, Ya Asked For It‘.
The event will be possibly headlined by Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
“There is a 0% chance I’ll fight Tony Ferguson in December,” Michael Chandler told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto on Tuesday. “And I 100% know he knew that, because the UFC already told him that, and I’ve already said I’ll see him in January.
“Now that we have Conor [McGregor] fighting Dustin [Poirier] — it looks like that fight will get booked on Jan. 23 — they need a co-main event. Why wouldn’t it be Chandler vs. Ferguson?”
Michael Chandler needed a break
Michael Chandler signed with the UFC in September and was set up as the backup for UFC 254. Prior to signing with the UFC, he had a knockout win over Benson Henderson at UFC 243 in August.
He had been in the camp for quite some time now and hence wanted a break.
“The UFC didn’t offer me the fight in December, because they know I’m on a timeline now,” Chandler said. “I just made weight in October. Everybody knows I’m an active fighter and I’m constantly training, but I needed just four weeks off. Essentially, Tony is campaigning for us to fight in 3.5 weeks.
“Tony, you had the opportunity to fight me in October and you said no. You didn’t even bring up fighting in December until it was way past the 11th hour. Let’s be realistic and sign up for Jan. 23. If you think you still have what it takes to fight for a title, fight me on Jan. 23. Why not take that opportunity, instead of muddying the water with this silly stuff?” (H/T – ESPN)
Who do you guys think wins in a fight between Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler?
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