Justin Gaethje vs Michael Chandler is set to take place at UFC 268, when the UFC returns to Madison Square Garden in New York City. However, Chandler’s claim that he wouldn’t get vaccinated despite a potential vaccine mandate jeopardized the whole thing.
Justin Gaethje dismissed the whole thing as attention-seeking behavior from the former Bellator fighter in a recent interview on UFC Unfiltered.
Gaethje Dismisses Anti-vax Michael Chandler “seeking attention”
“I thought he was just seeking attention. At the end of the day, that’s private information, for one. Like, you don’t even need to talk about that because Dana White is going to handle it.”
And handle it Dana did. The fight is set to go ahead, with Gaethje returning to the Octagon for the first time since he lost against then-champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020. Should Gaethje manage a win over Chandler, he believes that he’s the next logical choice to challenge Charles Oliveira for the lightweight strap.
“I think before he fought Dan Hooker, coming from Bellator, there wasn’t a lot that he brought to the table. But now with knocking Dan Hooker out, having a great fight against Oliveira, he’s kind of proven that he belongs here.
And ultimately for me, I need one win to fight for the title, to fight Oliveira and Poirier, and that’s my goal. And this is a huge fight, this is a dangerous fight. He’s super explosive, athletic, he’s dangerous. But I think it’s a great matchup for me.”
Although Chandler has been dismissive of Gaethje’s fighting prowess, “The Highlight” remains unfazed. “He’s not going to determine how I fight.
He says the first one to take a step back is a timid soul. There’s not one thing he could say that’s going to affect the way that I approach this fight or the way that I approach [him]. I will take a step backwards.
He can shove it up his ass. When you’re going to see a timid soul is when I start kicking him and he’s going to start shooting for legs and trying to wrestle, and that would be his definition of a b*tch, 100 percent. And that’s what we’ll see. I think that’s midway through the first round.”
The trash talk is well underway a month and a half out from the fight itself. Chandler vs Gaethje will doubtless be a highlight of 2021.
Which way do you see the fight going? Let us know in the comments.
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