Michael Chandler discusses his move from Bellator to the UFC: “I don’t necessarily make more money on paper or in my fights”

Michael Chandler has discussed his move from Bellator to the UFC.

It was late 2020 that Michael Chandler, three time Bellator champion made the decision to sign with the UFC. Since switching sides, after almost 10 years with Bellator, Chandler has made 4 appearances in the Octagon with 2 wins and 2 losses to his resume.

Chandler (23-7 MMA) just defeated Tony Ferguson(26-7 MMA) last Saturday night at UFC 274. It was a front kick that dropped Ferguson face first on the canvas just 17 seconds into the second round. Some media and fans alike are calling it the ‘knockout of the year’.

It was on a recent appearance on ‘How U Livin J Piven’ podcast that Chandler opened up about fight purses in the UFC as compared to Bellator, saying (h/t MMANews):

“You know what it is? I make more money, (but) I don’t necessarily make more money on paper or in my fights.”

Continuing to speak about his reputation, Chandler said:

“What I’ve been able to do is — once again, going back to my reputation, I have been a smaller name, I may have been a guy who was overlooked, I may have been a guy who (people) said, ‘Well, he’s not that legitimate ’cause he fights in Bellator,’ but one thing I always did, was I kept a really good reputation. I kept my nose clean, I stayed out of the negative headlines, I was always in the positive headlines, and then my fights spoke for themselves. I was an entertainer.”

Talking about pay-per-view opportunities ‘Iron’ had this to say:

“It all kinda just built this long-standing résumé for when I did come over to the UFC to be the co-main event on Conor (McGregor) vs. (Dustin) Poirier—almost two million pay-per-view buys, and then I was the main event for a world title fight, and then I was on another huge pay-per-view.”

Finishing the conversation Chandler concluded:

“The amount of eyeballs that I’ve been given and afforded by the UFC coincided with this great reputation of being a hard worker, being a man of integrity, being a hard-nosed fighter, being a fighter, a father, a husband. It just meshed perfectly, and I’ve been able to make a lot of money outside the cage and have some great relationships with some great companies and some great people.”

So there you have it, maybe it’s not ‘all about the money’ but one thing is for sure, Michael Chandler is making a name for himself in the UFC.

The question now becomes who will be his next opponent in the Octagon? Chandler has expressed his desire to fight Conor McGregor, but only the promotion knows it that could, would or should happen. Who would you like to see Chandler fight next?