UFC lightweight Michael Chandler used his latest Octagon appearance to deliver a blistering promo, hyping himself up to fight Conor McGregor or to get a rematch against Gaethje or Charles Oliveira. On The MMA Hour, Poirier pointed out that he’d been saving his promo skills for the UFC, despite his years in Bellator, because his old promotion “doesn’t have the best fighters in the world”.
“I wasn’t legitimately putting myself in the position to be the No. 1 fighter in the world, therefore, I didn’t want to show my complete skill set,” Chandler said on The MMA Hour. “It’s hard because I don’t want to ever speak about Bellator, or where I was previously, in a non-positive light.
Michael Chandler: “Bellator doesn’t have the best fighters in the world”
I love Bellator, I love Scott Coker, I loved that I came up in that organization. But it’s really hard to cut a promo like that and talk about becoming the best fighter in the world when you’re not fighting the best fighters in the world.
Sorry, Bellator does not have the best fighters in the world. There might be one or two outliers within that organization, but it’s just the truth.”
Chandler insists that he’s still on great terms with Scott Coker, Bellator’s head honcho, and his move to the UFC was his pursuit of the biggest names in MMA.
“I got a text on my phone from Scott Coker right now, he and I still speak and we are as close as they come. I’m very thankful for my history in the organization, but it’s really hard to get on a microphone and tell people I’m the most entertaining fighter in the world when I’m not fighting in the premier organization. We can all admit — and if you don’t admit, you’re either a hater or you don’t know the sport — that the UFC is the premier organization. The fighters in the UFC are the premier fighters on the planet.”
Michael Chandler wants “big fights” in his future, with the likes of Charles Oliveira, Conor McGregor, and even Nate Diaz suggested as potential opponents.
“I knew I wanted to talk about Charles. because everyone wants to see me rematch Charles. I knew I was going to talk about Gaethje in case he had won, and I knew I wanted to talk about Conor because I’m the most electrifying and entertaining guy in the sport.
It would be a huge pay-per-view if he comes back, and now everybody’s talking about me and Diaz — which I thought would be a phenomenal fight for the last year or so, so it’ll be interesting. There’s some big fights on the horizon.
My goal is still to win that title so I feel like I could still be next for Charles or maybe [Islam] Makhachev gets that title shot, but if that’s the case I still have some big fights ahead of me.”Is Michael Chandler underestimating the talent at Bellator? Let us know in the comments.
