MMA Fighting - Michael Chandler On His Title Fight Against Charles Oliveira, Poirier vs. McGregor 3 and Khabib Nurmagomedov's Retirement

Episode Date: April 1, 2021

Michael Chandler details how he ended up getting a lightweight title shot in only his second UFC fight, his thoughts on Dustin Poirier turning down a chance to compete for gold in favor of a trilogy against Conor McGregor and the lightweight division moving on without Khabib Nurmagomedov after his retirement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Michael Chandler, Michael, welcome back, and I talk about a crazy couple of weeks for you, man. Obviously, coming out of the big win in your debut, you wanted a title shot, guess what? You're fighting for the title. Yeah, man. first of all, thank you for having me. And, yeah, secondly, man, it's been crazy, man. It's been a crazy last year, obviously, betting on myself, fighting out my contract with Bellator, and then taking the leap to the UFC.

And a couple opportunities I said yes, too. And then obviously knocking out Dan Hooker was a good start to kicking down the door to the lightweight division. And I said yes, every way, all the way through. And I'm being rewarded for it, I guess. So we'll fight for that UFC title. UFC 2-62. Let's go. I love it. I love it.

Kind of give me a sense how this all came together. Because we heard rumors, and I know Justin Gachie put out a tweet, he thought he was going to fight you in May. I know that's a fight you were interested. We talked about that right after the Dan Hooker fight. And then, boom, you know, Khabib's officially retired, and you're fighting Charles Oliva for the title. So can you kind of give me the sense, like, how this all came together? Yeah, you know, I'm definitely interested in the Justin Gachie fight. That's a fight that I think the fans want to see at the fight that gets me excited.

But, you know, I saw the rumors. I just was keeping my head down and seeing what was going to play out. All I know is I got a call a couple, about four days ago at this point. I was in San Diego on a family vacation with my wife and son, and I said, yes. I said I'll fly back to Nashville, throw everything in my car, drive down to Florida, and I'm on my way right now to go get after it with my boys at Sanford, M&A. I love it. I love it.

Yeah. I was going to say, do you understand the word no? I don't think no exists in your vocabulary, does it? Man, I've been a guy who's been in this sport for 12 years, you know, and just it doesn't matter what vocation, what walk of life, what industry you're in. You know, the people that say yes, the people that are willing to step up, the people that are willing to put the work in and raise the, their hand when everybody else is covering their heads up, but usually those people are rewarded for it. And I, uh, the UFC has done right by me thus far. And I've, I've been, uh, it's been a pleasure to be signed with the UFC. It's been a pleasure since day one. And, uh, I imagine it's going to be

even more of a pleasure after I get that UFC belt strapped her on my waist. But it's been, uh, it's been good thus far. I, I have been a guy who's said yes, um, a lot when a lot of guys have said no. Um, pretty much everybody in the top five has said no to a, a fight against me except for Dan Hooker, and I tip my hat, and I commend him for taking that fight January 23rd. And, you know, he's a heck of a competitor. I know he'll be back, but I was glad to get the knockout that night. And obviously took a couple weeks off, served and loved all my family, dated my wife a little bit because I've been gone for a little while, and then got the phone call, and of course, you know my answer was going to be yes. My answer was going to be

yes to any fight, most likely, but a UFC title fight, I don't care. it's, you know, eight weeks notice, seven months notice, two days notice. I'm saying yes. My answer was yes, and now I'm on my way to Florida. I love it. Now, with that being said, you know, obviously Charles Olivares, the opponent. I'll get back to him in a second. I know we talked about this after the win over Dan Hooker, but, you know, we all kind

of imagine, you know, considering the way you both won, it was going to be you and Dustin Porriere. And then you said at the time, you know, you hold no ill will. Dustin doesn't want to fight you. You understood where he's coming from. I know you guys had some fun back in front. forth with the hot sauce, which is hilarious. But I had heard, and I, again, I don't know how much you hear, but I heard that you know,

Dustin had a chance to fight for the title, and it sounds like he's opting for the Connor McGregor trilogy, which is fine. I'm not going to, you know, obviously the title can come down the line. I'm sure you guys will fight in the future, whatever. But were you surprised the way it played out with you and Oliver, or did you kind of see this coming? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say I saw it coming. I mean, I think I saw, I definitely saw it coming that, that Connor and Fourier are going

to do the trilogy. That makes, it makes sense for Dustin. It makes sense for Connor to get that one back. It makes sense, you know, it's a huge fight in the lightweight division. So I, it makes sense in a lot of ways for Dustin to forego the title shot and go fight Connor. But with, with that being said, the UFC has got to move on. The UFC, you know, met with Khabib, and Khabib said he was absolutely unequivocally retired. He's done.

So the UFC had to make a decision. I don't know. I don't know what phone calls. were being made. I don't know if there was phone calls made to Dustin, made to Gae, made to Alvara, made to whoever. All I know is I got a phone call asking if I would be down to fight for the title, the vacant title May 15th, and I said absolutely. I didn't care who it was against. So that's kind of how it played out. And all I know is on my side of the fence, I respect and admire all these guys in the lightweight division. It's the most electrifying division in the

UFC right now, and I'm absolutely pumped to be a part of it. And now I get the opportunity to be the number one guy, the guy with the gold around my waist, and then have everybody else, pretty much I'll be put in a position where nobody's going to want to say no to a fight against me. I want to fight all these guys. I want these guys to be on my resume with a W next to my name, and it'll all happen in due time, but I'm excited to compete and show my skill set out there on May 15th in Houston, Texas against Oliver.

Absolutely. Let me ask, before we get to the fight itself, I know a fight we've talked about dozens of times. This goes back years when you were Bellator champion, a fight that you always dreamed about, was the Habib Narmagamatov fight. Obviously, I know you said, you know, you felt like, you know, over time, you could eventually convince him to come out of retirement. It seems like, at least based on what we're hearing out of him from this last weekend, he really is done, he really is walking away. In the back of your mind, like kind of like a two-part question, like, what was your reaction to that? because obviously that's how this title fight came about.

And then, too, is there any part of you? Like, do you feel like maybe you have to put Kibb behind you at this point? Yeah, no, I mean, at this point, yes. Kavibb deserves to go sail off into the sunset, into retirement, and enjoy it. He's his body of work, his resume, it speaks for itself. You know, I think that chapter in the lightweight division is behind me. You know, I talked about it this week. It's a new era in the lightweight division.

that lightweight title is up for grabs. The great thing is, even with Kabib, even with Kabib leaving the division, the lightweight division is the most stacked division in the UFC, the most exciting division in the UFC. So to get the opportunity to fight for the title now, my sights are set solely on Charles Alivera, May 15th. And then the great thing about that is we don't know who it's going to be after that, my first title defense, but I know it's going to be an exciting one.

You know, when you talk about Connor, You talk about Fourier. You talk about Gachy. You talk about these awesome competitors, tough guys. They're going to put butts in seats in arenas. Now that arenas are filling up, we're going to sell paper views. We're going to do some great stuff and continue the legacy of the lightweight division being always every year, the perennial, best division in the UFC across all promotions

and across all weight classes. So I'm excited to essentially plant my flag at the top of the mountain on May 15th after I beat Charles Olivera, and then we'll see, we'll see what's next. But the great thing is, man, the next couple of years are going to be a lot of fun. I said coming to the UFC, I'm here to have a good time and have a blast and put on some entertaining fights. And I get to do that. I did it against Dan Hooker a couple months ago, or really a month and a half ago at this point, and I get to do it against Charles Alvara here in seven and a half weeks.

Yeah. Now with that being said, the thing with Habib was always competitive. There was never a personal issue with him. It was always about competing against the best guys in the world. But is there any part of you as you move into this title fight with Charles Oliver, that the fact that Habib has really walked away, he's retired, does help this division move forward. Because I think, like, you know, the doubt that Dana White kept giving, I'm going to try to get Kabib to come back. I'm going to try to convince him to fight again.

There was always that little shadow kind of hanging over the division. Now he's retired. And good for him, man. he put on an amazing career. People would say arguably the greatest light weight of all time. He's done his thing. He's walked away and he's made it clear. At least, you know, there's no intention to him coming back.

Do you feel like that does help with this vacant title fight that you do get to help the division move forward? The Khabib question is no longer lingering out there. Yeah, I think it's, you know, I mean, I would be just as happy as he stuck around. And I was the next guy in line for the title to fight him for it. But either way, you know, he has made his decision, and this happens in sport. This happens in competition. This happens. Guys are done, whether it be because they, you know, fall off of the kind of the ladder, if you will,

or they just sail off into the sunset on top, like Cabeas is done. And he has earned every right to be able to do that. So it's good. You know, I think it's bittersweet for a lot of people, but I also think it's exciting in a lot of people's eyes that that question is answered. You know, there was a little bit of ambiguity and a lot of hope and wishful thinking on the UFC's part that Khabi wasn't actually going to be retired. But now we move forward with the division. And I have, you know, no problem shouldering and taking on all of the everything that is to come, winning that title May 15th, being the number one guy.

And then continuing the legacy of the UFC Lightway Division, being the champion, being the face of the life. Lightweight Division and then then getting excited about all the great opportunities and all the great fights that we're going to have moving on in the next couple of years. Yeah, absolutely. What are your thoughts on Charles Olivaire? He's been on an incredible run and he really got the big statement win over Tony Ferguson. Now, prior to that during his win streak, you could argue that maybe he hadn't fought the best guy as the division, but I don't care who you're fighting at lightweight. Eight fights in a row is pretty ridiculous because this division is so freaking deep as you mentioned. But what do you think of Charles, and he brings into this fight?

Ben, Charles, he's a salty, crafty veteran. He's a guy who's been inside that octagon dozens of times now. He's been in the octagon a lot of times. He's got a lot of experience. He's great on the ground. He's shown to be improving on the feet. He's dangerous everywhere. This is a dangerous fight.

This is an exciting fight, and this is with Connor and Forier doing their trilogy. We weren't really sure where Justin Gates you stood. I think it makes a lot of sense. And Charles Olivera, as a competitor, he's as tough as they come. He is, I feel like we're going to see the best version of Charles Olivera. Anytime you get the opportunity to step into that octagon and compete for UFC gold, you're going to see the best version of Charles Oliver, but you're also going to see the best version of myself.

This is what I've been working towards outside the UFC for 12 years, and now for the last six months being signed with the UFC working towards getting myself into the title picture, getting myself into title contention. Now here we are. I said yes, and in seven and a half weeks I get to capture UFC gold. Yeah.

If there's been one knock on Charles Olivera during his career, and obviously he's also fought a featherweight, so of course, you know, we're talking about a different body of work, but if there's been one slight knock on him, it's that, you know, he is an incredible frontrunner. What I mean by that is when he's winning, man, it's real hard to slow him down. He's a very dominant fighter.

What he did to Tony Ferguson was just ridiculous. The way he dominated Tony on the ground. It was just a real showcase for him. But, you know, adversity. You know, that seems to be maybe a little bit of an issue he's facing the past. With guys, you know, put the hurt on him, he's not a guy who's been able to stick around through those moments. Now, we know that you are kind of like the owner of the hurt business, so to speak.

You really do like to go out there and kind of punish your opponents. And you've been in those deep waters and had to find your way out of bad. situations. Do you feel like that actually is a pretty big advantage for you in this fight to see what he's really made of? Absolutely. I think, I mean, that's my goal no matter who it is. If it's the toughest guy in the division or a guy who sometimes tends to fade as the fight progresses into a real big dog fight, slug fest, knock down, dragout war, man, that's where I thrive. You know, so far, the fans have only seen two and a half minutes of my performance, but wait to you, round two, round three, round four, and round five. I've been in those championship rounds.

I've been in those 25-minute wars. I've been in the deep, deep waters with championship level, high-level caliber guys, two former UFC champions, Eddie Alvarez, Vincent Henderson, guys that held belts in the UFC. And I've been in Knockdown, Dragout Wars. I've won fight of the year numerous times. So it's, man, I thrive on that. And that's what it got me excited about signing with the UFC.

All the new opportunities, all the new opportunities, all the new challenges, all the new contests and wars I get to get in with these guys, the best guys in the world, the best lightweights in the world. And, you know, if Charles Oliveira takes his foot off the gas at all, chances are he's going to get finished. And I don't know how long is it to be able to keep his foot on the gas. I know I'm going to keep my foot on the gas for 25 minutes. I know everyone's going to be on the edge of their seats there in Houston at the Toyota Center.

And, man, it's going to be fun. I think it's the perfect opponent. I think it's the perfect time. I think it's the perfect place to win the UFC title in front of 19,000 fans in Houston, Texas. And, man, I just couldn't be happy. I think it all worked out perfectly. I think you couldn't have scripted me coming over, signing with the UFC at the right time, the door being the door that stayed closed for so long, finally opening here in 2020 and then 2021,

and then be capturing the gold this year. And I think it's a perfect time. And that's got me more motivated than anything. So you think you've seen a motivated Michael Chandler. You think you've seen a tenacious, violent Michael Chandler. I think the best is you have to come in that regard, and you're going to see at May 15. Yeah, absolutely.

You know, when you think about the body of work you've already put together in your career, Michael, when you think about all the things you did in Bellator and the guys you beat, it's not just the title range. You mentioned the Eddie Alvarez fights, a guy who's a fellow legend in the sport. You talk about Benson Henderson, a guy who has gone with everybody, the former UFC champion, the guys you already have on your resume, then you add on a Dan Hooker, and then in your second UFC fight,

you have a chance to become champion. And I know 100% would focus that you believe you will become champion. And so maybe this is a question better asked on May 16th, but I'll ask it anyways now. Like, can you quantify in your head right now, like what that will mean to add this to your legacy and putting you in kind of like a very, very small category of guys who have been able to do this?

Eddie obviously did it. he was a Bellator champion. He ended up winning the UFC title. And Eddie's, you know, again, there's a reason why we consider Eddie Alvers one of the greatest lightweights of all time. Do you feel like this will cement you in that same kind of category because, again, you have a chance to do something that is so super rare in this sport? Yeah, I mean, I think so.

You know, I don't really think about, you know, I think about living each day to the best of my ability. And that's how you create a legacy. That's how you create a long-standing, Hall of Fame, greatest of all time type of legacy is to just put the work in and put your best foot forward every single day. And I've done that. I've lived my life like the best lightweight in the world. And I've lived my life like a champion since I started this sport in 2009. And I think it all culminates on May 15th when I capture UFC gold. And then from then on, it's just

defending the title and it's stringing together wins and it's putting on great performances. And it's making people feel something. You know, and I think, I think, you know, when you talk about my body of work, listen, I'm not undefeated. I am not. I don't have a perfect record. I do have losses on my record. But that's even more, it's even more relatable to the fans and the people who are watching out there that say,

man, this guy pulled himself up by his bootstraps. He came from small, humble beginnings. He's got a couple losses. He got knocked down a couple times. He dusted himself back off. He kept working. He kept putting his best foot forward. and he ended up winning the UFC title

and then multiple world titles outside the UFC and then a world title in the UFC and I think that in and of itself is hopefully a blueprint for a lot of people to say, you know what, I might not have won today, but the sun will rise again tomorrow and I've always had that mentality. I know this career is a marathon, not a sprint,

and that's what I tell all these young fighters, man. It's not about being perfect every day. It's about stringing together. good days as long as you can. You've got 365 days in the year. You're going to take an L here and there. You're going to have your bumps. You're going to take your bruises. But eventually all the hard work pays off if you still continue to strive for those goals that you have in your heart. And that's really what I want to convey to the onlookers there in Houston, Texas, the viewers on everybody who buys the pay-per-view. And I think May 15th, you're going to see the changing

of a guard of the new face of the lightweight division. And from then on it's just putting on great performance just a microcosm of a sport which is mixed martial arts. Yeah, absolutely. And to that point you know, it's kind of funny. We talk about all the potential matchups coming out of the Dan Hooker fight. You know, you said, listen, I'll fight Charles

Oliveira, I'll fight Dustin Porre, I'll fight Connor McGregor, I'll fight any of these guys. You end up with Charles Oliver in a title shot, which is, you know, again, you didn't necessarily know that was going to happen, but now here it is. If everything goes well on May 15th, you become champion. And at that point, you kind of really do get to live your best life because you've never been a guy to sit there and call out, you know, opponents, things like that. Like, everyone's going to say, oh, well, you should fight Dustin. Great, you're champion.

Come get it. You want to fight Gagee? Great, I'm champion. Come get it. Like, I know that's your mentality, but I love that. And I imagine that's like the dream scenario, right? Once you become champion, you don't have to call it anybody. They're going to be coming for you. Yeah, I mean, and that was the, you know, it was such a blessing to sign with the UFC. I got the contract I wanted. I'm in the organization that I wanted. On the biggest platform I could have possibly asked for, but the only problem was being the outsider,

being the dark horse, being the guy who was coming into the organization, the fighters know how tough of a competitor I am. They know how tough of a night it's going to be when they step into the octagon against me. So I get the fact that they didn't want to be the first one to get their toe in the water and fight me first. So that's why I say,

I commend Dan Hooker for saying yes to that first fight in January. And then once I beat him, now I got a number four next to my name. So I thought that was going to be pretty easy to book the next fight. Guys weren't going to say no, they wouldn't have a choice because now I'm ranked beside the top five. That still wasn't the case. There was still some pushback with some guys inside the top five. So now once I win the title, everyone's going to be wanting to fight me. Everyone's going to want the opportunity to fight me.

So at that point, now we just sit back and we figure out what is next. next. What makes the most sense? Who, you know, now I can almost say, okay, who's kind of earned it, you know, when it comes to this, you know, Justin Gagey's coming off of a loss. He still hasn't beat anybody yet, so he's going to have to beat somebody before he gets a title shot. You know, you got Dustin and Connor fight.

And obviously, the winner of the Dustin versus Connor fight interests me, because that's a trilogy everybody wants to see. Dustin's the number one guy in the world now that Khabib is gone. If Connor beats Porrier, that obviously. puts Connor right in title contention. Connor is the biggest combat sports athlete on the planet as we speak. So, man, there's a ton of great options.

I would obviously be looking at the Connor versus Dustin fight. I'll be sitting at Cajside watching that, whatever that happens, June, July, August. Hopefully, getting to watch my next opponent perform that night. Yeah, absolutely. I got to, just real quick before I get you out of Michael, I got to ask you, the last time we spoke about Connor and Dustin, you said, you know, it was a razor-close fight.

I think you leaned a little bit towards Connor going into it, but you gave a ton of credit to Dustin Pore and he ended up going out there and winning. Now in the trilogy, do you lean one way or the other? Because, again, potentially that's going to be, assuming everything goes well, you beat Charles Oliva. I imagine that's a pretty good shot. That's going to be your next opponent would be the winner of Connor and Dustin.

I don't think I'm crazy thinking that. No, I don't think so either. I mean, I think it's, you know, you got me and Charles Olivera fighting for the title. that's, you know, the title fight's usually the biggest fight in the division. But obviously, whenever any time Connor steps into the octagon and you're talking about a trilogy against Dustin Porier, that's going to be a huge fight. So I think the winner of that fight is probably going to get the nod to get the next title shot. So I'll be watching closely. And I think I still lean towards Connor.

I think there's now a ton of pressure. Now that they're both one and one, now it's a fight that Dustin can't lose because he knows he knows he passed up on the title shot. in order to take this fight. So there's going to be a ton of pressure on Dustin to win this fight or else he passed up on a title shot that he might not get for a while. Could take him another fight or two to get back to the title, and it could be me and Connor fight next if Connor wins. So I still lean towards Connor.

I think Connor still has the power in those hands, and I think you're going to see Connor make some adjustments, as we have seen when he has taken loss. He's always come back a better fighter, a more skilled fighter, a more prepared fighter. So we're going to see whenever that fight takes place. Either way, I'm excited to watch that one. I'm obviously going to be focused on my fight the next seven weeks.

I'm going to go out there and take care of business in May, in Houston, Texas. And, man, I'm just excited. UFC gold around my waist here in seven weeks. A ton of opportunities to fight the best lightweights in the world. Couldn't be a better time to be in the sport. It couldn't be a better time to be in the UFC. and I can't wait. Yeah, absolutely.

Before I get you out of here, I got to ask this, because your last fight, it was kind of a weird situation with the fans. They actually did have some fans in the arena, but again, not a full-capacity crowd, you know, when you fought Dan Hooker. You're going to be having, you know, what, 19,000 screaming lunatic fans in Houston.

I know that the fans are such a huge part of fighting. They bring so much emotion to it, the walkout, everything else. Are you excited for that aspect? I'm really excited about that, man. I think Houston, Texas, I mean, you couldn't think of a better place to go to a full-packed arena. Fighting a Brazilian, I'm going to be wearing the stars and stripes, 13 bars, 50 stars around my shoulder, and representing the United States against Brazil's finest. And it's going to be a historic night, an awesome night there in Houston.

I think even last time, walking to that octagon was the best I've ever felt in my entire life as a competitor. And I think it's going to be even better this time knowing what's at stake. I think you're going to see the best version of myself that we've seen in a long time. I think Charles Oliver is a perfect opponent. And, man, I'm just excited. The possibilities are endless when it comes. comes to winning this fight and then what is going to happen next. It's going to be big.

It's going to be huge. It couldn't think of a stage being set better than the Toyota Center at UFC 262 live on pay-per-view. And, you know, we'll see as the rest of the card shapes up, but it's looking to be a phenomenal card. I can't wait to see everybody show up. I can't wait to feel the energy. Feel the, feel the aura of what is a packed arena as I walked out to my, my, my, my,

my UFC debut of a full packed arena in the UFC, and then I'm just excited about it. It hasn't quite sunken in yet. I think it's going to set in here this week whenever I get around my team, get around my coaches down at Sanford, MMA, and Florida, and it's all going to start becoming a reality. And as I said, as I always do, I'm going to put my best foot forward. I'm going to train like crazy.

You're going to see the best version of myself, the most in-shape, happiest, healthiest, and hardest to kill Michael Chandler you have ever seen. I'm going to go out there and win UFC gold. I said this to you after you fought Dan Hooker, I said you couldn't have written a better ending to that fight. For things to play out, you answered every single question. Anyone had about you saying, oh, he's a Bellator guy, or always you stepping up to a different level of competition. All those questions were answered inside two and a half minutes. Dan Hooker, again, you could not have written a better ending.

So put on your rider hat. Charles Olivaire on May 15th. Write the perfect story. How does that one end? I walk out into a packed arena in Houston, Texas, 19,000 of red, white, and blue-blooded Americans chanting my name rooting for me. I go out there, I get in Charles Alvarez's face immediately, and he will realize and feel from the first shit exchange, from the pressure that I put on him, he will immediately start to second-guess himself, he will immediately start to overreact. He will immediately start worried about, worry about his legs. I'm going to go to his head.

I'm going to go to his head. I'm going to go to his legs. I'm going to go to his body. I'm going to mix it up. A punch is going to land. He's going to get his clock cleaned. He's going to wake up looking at the bright lights and me standing up on top the cage about ready to get my hand raised and UFC gold around my waist. That's how it's going to go. I predict it's going to be the first round. And then I predict a phenomenal end to 2021. And we're going to carry this baby on for the next couple years. I love it. I love it. Michael, it is always a pleasure to catch up with you, my friend. I appreciate taking the time. Have a great training camp for the next seven weeks. I know your team's going to take good care of you down at Sanford, MMA. Thank you, as always, for taking the time for me. You know I appreciate it, and I cannot wait. Cannot wait for May 15th.

You got it, Damon. I appreciate you, man. I'll talk to you soon. All right, talk to you soon. Okay, bye-bye. Bye-bye. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.