Michael Chandler can’t bring himself to watch KO loss against Charles Oliveira ahead of UFC 309

Michael Chandler believes he was too fresh in the UFC when he dropped his first fight against Charles Oliveira.

Chandler and Oliveira fought for the UFC Lightweight Championship back in 2021. Despite having a solid opening round, Chandler ended up being dropped and finished by “do Bronx” in the second round.

Reflecting on that loss, “Iron” Mike insists that his inexperience in the UFC outweighed what he had done in Bellator on that night.

RELATED: CHARLES OLIVEIRA PUTS FIRST WIN OVER MICHAEL CHANDLER IN THE PAST AHEAD OF UFC 309 REMATCH: ‘OUR IDEA IS TO BE BETTER’

Michael Chandler Insists He Was ‘Too Young’ in First Charles Oliveira Fight

Michael Chandler will get a chance at revenge when he meets Charles Oliveira a second time this Saturday night. The two will collide inside the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City in the co-main event of UFC 309.

Ahead of the rematch, Chandler told Ariel Helwani that while he had strong resume ahead of his second UFC fight, the jitters were real (h/t Bloody Elbow).

“I watched the first round about a week ago, I didn’t watch the second round. The second round was me making a really silly mistake that I have since cleaned up,” Chandler began to explain on The Ariel Helwani Show.

“I was too young, man. Even though I was old, I was too young, I was too new in the sport, I had two and a half minutes of Octagon experience, two and a half minutes of UFC cage time.

“Not only have I grown as a fighter, but obviously these last two years that I’ve been out of the Octagon, out of competition, so many things I’ve changed and so many things I’ve worked on and so many things, I’ve turned into a completely different man,” Chandler continued.

Having been outside the Octagon for two years, it’ll be interesting to see how Chandler looks in his return. If he can shake off any ring rust, fans might be in for a “Fight of the Night” candidate.

If you can’t catch the UFC 309 action live this weekend, be sure to visit the BJPenn.com homepage. We’ll have you covered with live results and video highlights throughout the night.