Michael Chandler not thinking about retirement despite recent UFC losses: “I’ve got a lot of tread left on the tires”

By Josh Evanoff - December 12, 2024

UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler isn’t thinking about retirement quite yet.

Michael Chandler

‘Iron’ is fresh off his return to the octagon last month in New York City. Back for the first time since being submitted by Dustin Poirier in 2022, Michael Chandler again faced Charles Oliveira. While the former Bellator champion was initially set to face Conor McGregor in June, ‘The Notorious’ withdrew due to injury.

As a result, Michael Chandler pivoted towards a rematch with the Brazilian. While ‘Iron’ had a herculean comeback in round five, he was largely dominated by Oliveria. ‘Do Bronx’ emerged with a unanimous decision win last month, handing Chandler his fourth loss in his last five UFC appearances. Following the fight, he again called out McGregor.

However, with the Irishman dealing with legal issues, that fight now seems off the table for a while. Given Michael Chandler’s age, some likely assume that he’s winding down his incredible fight career. However, that’s not the case at all. In a recent interview with Lucky Block, Chandler discussed his future.

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Michael Chandler

(via Zuffa LLC)

Michael Chandler opens up on retirement following UFC 309 defeat

There, the 38-year-old admitted that he’s not thinking much about retirement. While he’s had a few losses as of late, Michael Chandler believes he’s still got a lot of tread left on his tires. Furthermore, don’t expect the UFC lightweight to hang up the gloves until he’s in his 40s.

“I’ve got a lot of tread left on my tires, even though I got banged up a little bit in my last fight.” Michael Chandler stated to Lucky Block. “I banged up my knee, dislocated my thumb, I tripped and fell. I trained pretty athletically, but I fell like four or five times in that fight because of the foundation I had on my legs and I couldn’t get my footing, I kept saying to Robbie in my corner, I can’t get my footing. And I was thinking it was just the canvas and I was slipping around, but it was because I wasn’t putting weight on my left leg, that’s when I tripped and dislocated my thumb.”

He continued, “I just got an MRI on it this morning. But, it’ll be fine. I had these little minor injuries, but I didn’t take any damage to the head. Oliveira didn’t land a lot of punches, a few here and there, but not a lot of damage to the head. Which, is obviously your most important asset that you have. I’m protecting myself, recovering really well. I could see myself fighting into my early 40s for sure, the next couple of years, because I got a lot of tread left on the tires.”

What do you make of these comments from the UFC lightweight? Who do you want to see Michael Chandler face next?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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