Michael Chandler has responded to accusations that he deliberately bends the foundations in his UFC fights.
Chandler, the previous Bellator light-weight champ, was again in motion within the co-main occasion of UFC 309 in New York Metropolis earlier this month, taking over Brazilian legend Charles Oliveira. He misplaced the five-round battle by unanimous choice, and afterwards got here underneath fireplace for repeatedly putting Oliveira to the again of the pinnacle — a foul in MMA — within the closing spherical.
It was not the primary time Chandler has been accused of dishonest in his fights. His former opponent Dustin Poirier additionally accused him of a number of intentional fouls of their battle. But the previous Bellator champ insists he’s not a unclean fighter.
“I’m an trustworthy man,” Chandler stated in an interview with Ariel Helwani of Uncrowned (h/t MMA Mania). “I attempt to dwell fairly stuffed with integrity and stuffed with honesty, and a story that has been painted is just not very attention-grabbing to me. [I’m] not very comfortable about it.
“I don’t suppose I did something improper,” Chandler continued, addressing the alleged strikes to the again of Oliveira’s head. “Folks might take a look at it and splice it and take a look at it underneath a tremendous tooth comb and a magnifying glass. However the Unified Guidelines of Combined Martial Arts say there’s a line drawn from the crown of the pinnacle right down to the neck, one inch variance on both facet. So that you’re speaking a few two-inch space on the again of somebody’s head that’s thought-about the again of the pinnacle.”
“And in the event you watch, 90 % of the pictures, most of them, nearly all of them, not less than the place I used to be aiming all of them? My hand, my fist was catching the ear. So in the event you’re catching the ear, that isn’t the again of the pinnacle.”
Chandler additional defended his place by mentioning that the referee in command of the battle didn’t intervene, which means he didn’t see any egregious abuse of the foundations.
“A referee who was two ft away by no means stated one factor about it,” Chandler stated. “However you bought commentators who had been 35 ft away saying it’s the again of the pinnacle. And you bought different people who find themselves saying, ‘Hey, that’s the again of the pinnacle, identical to the Poirier battle.’”
“Finally, you’re dropping a man, you’re down you’re down on factors. You’re making an attempt to hit him, and also you’re making an attempt to get him out of there. I’m not 100% enthusiastic about that little crimson line between the again of the pinnacle the entire time.”
The loss to Oliveira introduced Michael Chandler to 2-4 since becoming a member of the UFC. It was his second loss to the Brazilian, after struggling a TKO defeat in a battle for the vacant title in 2021. The battle marked his long-awaited return to the Octagon after sitting out a number of years ready for a battle with Conor McGregor.