Miami — It didn’t take much for UFC lightweight Michael Chandler to agree to a fight with rising British star Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett, a match-up set to serve as the co-main event at UFC 314 in Miami this Saturday.
“I’m a guy who is not afraid to take risks, and brave the unknown, and do ill-advised things (to the masses) at times,” Chandler (23-9), a former multiple-time Bellator MMA champion, told media outlets during Wednesday’s media day. “But I also am a man of my word. So when the UFC approached me about it, the answer was ‘yes, I just don’t know timeline-wise.'”
Chandler had injuries he had to clear up following his fight with Charles Oliveira, but ultimately it came down to wanting to get back in the cage, and get the bad taste out of his mouth following his unanimous decision loss to “Do Bronx” back in November. “I felt like I was about to have the best performance of my life, and had a little thing happen to me inside the octagon which changed the entire thing. So now we’re back, we’re ready, we’ve had a phenomenal training camp, and it was ready to roll.”
“Iron” Michael Chandler also has added motivation to get back to work, with his daughter being born just a few days ago.
Heading into the match-up, you’d be forgiven for expecting a grudge match. Pimblett has been know for beefing with opponents, and even with fighters he’s not paired up with, during fight week. Exhibit A, Topuria, Ilia. Yet things have remained pretty friendly between the Brit and the American ahead of UFC 314.
“I wasn’t sure honestly what to expect to be honest with you. I know he’s got some funny trash talk, he likes to get in the mix, he’s not afraid, he’s got that Scouser accent,” stated Chandler.
“Paddy and I have crossed paths many times. After I was at his fight against Ferguson, I came up to him and congratulated him because why not? Even if he’s in my weight class, even if I knew he was a young, hungry star on the rise, could be coming, sitting right here some day to fight me, this sport’s about respect, and I respect the heck out of him,” he added. “We’re very cordial. We don’t need to hate each other to go out there and steal the show. Chandler vs. Pimblett is the people’s main event, and we will steal the show on Saturday night. And we’ll shake hands and maybe share a pint after.”
Chandler has long been linked to Conor McGregor, despite the pair never having fought. They coached opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter 31, and were briefly linked to an officially announced bout at UFC 303, only for McGregor to break his toe.
More recently, McGregor has expressed interest in running for President in his native Ireland. Chandler gave his response to that, speaking with Cageside Press at Wednesday’s media day.
“I think you should vote. I think you should vote for Conor McGregor for President of Ireland if you’re a resident of Ireland,” Chandler said with a laugh, before admitting he really didn’t know what to make of the situation or what McGregor was thinking. “You talk about me, burnout and busy and whatnot, that guy’s got his hands in a thousand different things, for better or worse. We’ll see what happens. It could just be a political stunt, it could just be for attention. Not a bad move if it is. We’ll see.
Watch the full UFC 314 media day appearance by Michael Chandler above.
