Michael Chandler, ever since he move to the UFC from Bellator, has faced criticism for his perceived “Dana White privilege”. While Chandler’s fast track to a UFC title shot earned him the ire of many in the lightweight division, he insisted on the How You Livin J Piven podcast that his long-standing track record and good reputation got him to where he is today.
“You know what it is? I make more money, I don’t necessarily make more money on paper or in my fights. What I’ve been able to do is — once again, going back to my reputation, I have been a smaller name, I may have been a guy who was overlooked, I may have been a guy who (people) said, ‘Well, he’s not that legitimate ’cause he fights in Bellator,’ but one thing I always did, was I kept a really good reputation.
Chandler: “Long Standing Resume” Helped Him Skip UFC Queue
I kept my nose clean, I stayed out of the negative headlines, I was always in the positive headlines, and then my fights spoke for themselves. I was an entertainer.”
Michael Chandler clearly understands that his job at a professional fighter is to entertain the masses. That’s how he ended up on a McGregor pay-per-view card as a co-main event.
“It all kinda just built this long-standing résumé for when I did come over to the UFC to be the co-main event on Conor vs. Poirier—almost two million pay-per-view buys, and then I was the main event for a world title fight, and then I was on another huge pay-per-view.
The amount of eyeballs that I’ve been given and afforded by the UFC coincided with this great reputation of being a hard worker, being a man of integrity, being a hard-nosed fighter, being a fighter, a father, a husband. It just meshed perfectly, and I’ve been able to make a lot of money outside the cage and have some great relationships with some great companies and some great people.”
Michael Chandler’s time in the UFC has been nothing if not eventful. He is 2-2 in the UFC, earning himself two Performance of the Night bonuses and one Fight of the Night bonus. His two losses came against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, with the latter fight voted as fight of the year. His most recent outing ended with a vicious front kick knockout win over Tony Ferguson.
It’s safe to say that Michael Chandler’s reputation as an entertainer will keep him in the Octagon for quite some time. Do you think Michael Chandler deserved to “skip the queue” in the UFC? Let us know in the comments.
