UFC lightweight Michael Chandler is having too much fun to consider retiring. He’s sustained some serious damage in his most recent fights, including bloody affairs against Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier. Despite his reputation for barrelling through damage, Chandler insisted on The MMA Hour that he simply loves fighting “the best guys in the world.”
“You’re fighting the best guys in the world, and I put myself in some positions to take damage, although that is my style and it is a technique, it is a way that I’ve won a lot of my fights, a lot in the first round – a lot of my finishes came from the breakneck pace I put on guys.
Michael Chandler Refuses To Consider Retirement
And I just think it’s the largest platform now. It’s turned everything into momentum. You gain momentum, you gain steam and you keep the train rolling.
I honestly think I’ve always fought that way. I just think I’m fighting the toughest guys on the planet right now. The toughest guys on the planet at 155 pounds reside in the top-five of the UFC, and I’ve come in and fought five of the toughest guys I possibly could, which is exactly what I said I wanted to do in my first meeting with [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell].
I wanted to prove either I was who I said I was, or I wasn’t. Either I go to the UFC and I go 0-2 and I get cut, and I can live with that. It hasn’t worked out that way, thank god, but I wanted to fight the toughest guys right away.”
Chandler also discussed the potential toll that his style of fighting could take on his health long-term. “Obviously, if there were any glaring problems, if there was any health issues that both of us thought, ‘Wow, OK, this thing’s taking a toll’ – praise god, it’s not – but I think she trusts me to know when it’s time to hang it up, it’s time to hang it up.
When it’s time to slow down or cool down a little bit, she knows she can trust me, because she knows that I love her and my boys and my family, and what I get to do and the live I get to live outside of MMA. She knows I love all of that so much more than I love MMA, and I love MMA, and I love the opportunities, and I love the platforms, and I love God’s calling that he’s put on my life.”
Is the best of Michael Chandler still yet to come? Let us know in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkwcFtAMMvw
