LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] continues to be proven wrong by UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag].
Chandler picked against Makhachev (24-1 MMA, 13-1 UFC) when he defended his lightweight title against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284, but Makhachev wound up winning a close decision. Chandler also falsely said that Charles Oliveira would have the upper hand over Makhachev in their UFC 280 title fight.
With Makhachev winning both of those matchups, Chandler is giving him credit for living up to his hype.
“This is what always happens: You guys call, ask me to talk about Islam, and then all of a sudden the headline is, oh, ‘Chandler thinks he can beat Islam’ when I’m, ‘No. No.’ But this is what always happens,” Chandler said backstage at UFC 285. “I have a ton of respect for Islam. Islam running through Charles (Oliveira) and then beating Volkanovski – I picked Volkanovski to win. Once again, I have been proven wrong. Once again, my foot is in my mouth. So I think Islam is blossoming into, at the right time, the champion that he is and will be and who we thought he could be. We weren’t quite sure.
“I think we put the cart before the horse when it came to Islam. I stand behind (saying I can beat him). But now at this point, at this juncture, I think he has proven himself to be the guy. Ultimately, I think all of us think we can beat anybody on any given night. I think you put me in an octagon anywhere around the world against Islam, I think my chances are pretty darn good. But ultimately, he’s proven himself thus far. He’s our champion for a reason. I’m going to go out there, smash Conor, get my hand raised, and then maybe fight (Makhachev) later on.”
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Makhachev felt wronged for remaining the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter. But Chandler agrees with Volkanovski retaining his No. 1 spot considering that he was moving up a division for the fight.
“I don’t know about (Makhachev being No. 1 pound-for-pound),” Chandler said. “I don’t think you beat a guy a weight class below you and then go above him. A win is a win unless it’s a different weight class. So Volkanovski in my mind – the guy who has cleared out his division only to go up a weight class to take a chance to possibly capture the double champ status – shouldn’t lose his No. 1 pound-for-pound spot by losing to a guy who’s 10, 15 pounds heavier than him.”