THANK YOU, MICHAEL CHANDLER

Thank you, Michael Chandler. If there is one person that the MMA community does not show enough respect to, it is Iron Mike. I know I certainly don’t, but this is my attempt at reconciliation. He constantly gets overlooked as a fighter. Many use the term “Dana White Privilege” to describe his title shot for the vacant lightweight belt. A term coined by Tony Ferguson at a press conference last year. The truth is that he was the most eligible and willing contender. Dana White did not give privilege, he hired the best man for the job. Michael Chandler’s accomplishments in Bellator are unmatched. His career and title reign have placed him among the greats in Bellator history. He fought elite caliber opponents, had incredibly entertaining fights and always showed up… Pretty much everything he has done in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

What was his first move after signing with the UFC? Flying out to Abu Dhabi and being the backup fighter for Khabib v Gaethje. A spot that no other fighter on the roster wanted to accept. Think about what a daunting task that is. Go through a full training camp, fly across the world, make weight and then hopefully one of the main fighters fails at one of those tasks. If they had, his reward would have been a short notice fight vs the greatest lightweight of all time or the most violent lightweight of all time. Do you see the irony in that? Mike did not care. In the end, both fighters made it to fight day and Khabib came out on top. Fast forward 3 months later to Michael Chandler’s debut. He walks into the cage as an underdog against Dan Hooker. A tough night out for anybody in the world. Michael Chandler starches him in the first round and proceeds to call out the 3 baddest dudes in his division. The groundwork he had done over his career qualified him for a title shot. It was a combination of being the right guy but also being at the right place at the right time. He went out against Oliviera and got as close to winning the belt as he could possibly without getting his hand raised. Chandler won 10-8 in the first before getting clipped in the second. Most guys would take a step back and hide from the spotlight. He showed up to the post fight press conference that night. He was on the media circuit that Monday. Mike continually called out Gaethje, and over time got the fight. Who benefited most from that fight? The fans. These dudes went out and put on a fight of the year candidate. One of the only fights that hyped in recent memory to actually live up to it, and it surpassed that hype by a lot.

Since that fight, he has stayed in the media and it looks like he will get Tony Ferguson next. If there’s one thing I can assure you, it will be an entertaining one. Nobody wants to entertain the fans more than Iron Mike, and I will watch every one of his fights because of that. His character and love for the sport is unmatched. Every fight night you see Michael Chandler tuning in on the live tweets. He is constantly interacting with fans. People give him the wrap of being corny on social media, but I genuinely think he wants to use his platform to affect as many people positively as he can. Michael Chandler is one of us. He just happens to be a lot better at fighting. Thank you Mike, and see you at the top!

GEEK: GOOSEY