UFC lightweight Michael Chandler is baffled as to how Charles Oliveira could be considered an underdog against Islam Makhachev. Oliveira, Chandler pointed out to MMAJunkie, is for all intents and purposes a defending champion, albeit one without a belt around his waist. Chandler believes that Makhachev is trading heavily on the “mystique” surrounding his coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and that Oliveria is being unfairly ignored.
“Charles has the upper hand, in my opinion. I think it’s crazy that he’s an underdog, but I do think Islam has the tools to be able to win. So we’ll see what happens on Oct. 22. I’ll be watching that very intensely, and I hope to face the winner.
Michael Chandler Is Baffled By Oliveira’s Underdog Odds Vs Makhachev
You definitely can’t say that Islam is unproven, but you definitely can say – I think there’s a certain mystique, there’s this certain correlation that we want to make between Khabib and Islam, and then you have Javier Mendez coming out and saying that Islam is better than Khabib. You’ve got Khabib saying that Islam is better than Khabib.
You’ve got this big hype machine coming up.” Michael Chandler fought Charles Oliveira in a similar matchup back at UFC 262. Although Chandler had the better of the fight in the first round, Oliveira rallied in the second to knock Chandler out and claim the lightweight title. At UFC 280, Oliveira will attempt to recapture the title after being stripped of the belt when he failed to make weight ahead of his most recent title defense.
Michael Chandler has made no secret of his desire to earn a UFC belt, and hopes to face either Oliveira or Makhachev after UFC 280. If he had the choice, which fighter does Michael Chandler want to fight more?
“For me, who would I rather face? I think it’s 50-50. I think if it’s Charles, I would love to be able to get the rematch. I think I was so close to winning the title against Charles. I think that we have tape on each other. We have highlight reels of each other fighting each other.
Both of us had our highs and lows in that fight. And I also would love to, if Islam does beat Charles, I would love to be the guy that stops the hype train of Islam if he does win.”
Is Michael Chandler right about UFC 280? Let us know what you think in the comments.
