Tag: Michael Chandler

Grant Dawson: Michael Chandler ‘got his butt kicked’ at UFC 314, needs to be unranked

Grant Dawson is doubling down on his stance toward Michael Chandler in the UFC lightweight rankings.

COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – [autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag] is doubling down on his stance toward [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] in the UFC lightweight rankings.

Dawson (23-2-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) never thought Chandler deserved to be ranked and has reiterated his position after Chandler was finished by Paddy Pimblett in Saturday’s UFC 314 co-main event in Miami.

Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) is now on a three-fight losing skid and has lost five of his past six.

“I’ve been calling out Chandler for years,” Dawson told MMA Junkie. “I’ve always thought Chandler was undeserving of being in the top 15. He’s now 2-5, I believe, in the UFC. All good guys for sure, but we’re all fighting good guys. If Michael Chandler’s next fight is a big name, not an up-and-comer, I think the UFC is doing a disservice.”

Dawson admits Pimblett far surpassed his expectations after dominating Chandler and stopping him by TKO in Round 3.

“I thought he looked great. I thought he looked much improved,” Dawson said of Pimblett. “I, from Day 1, was picking Paddy to beat Michael Chandler, and I didn’t think he would do it like that. I thought Michael Chandler was going to be winning the entire fight and then do something Michael Chandler does and find a way to lose. But, no, he got his butt kicked the entire time. Paddy is definitely a force to be reckoned with. I’m interested to see who they match him up with next.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Henry Cejudo: Michael Chandler must ‘consider retirement’ after one more fight

Henry Cejudo can relate to Michael Chandler’s current situation.

MIAMI – [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] can relate to [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag]’s current situation.

Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) suffered his third consecutive loss when he was stopped by Paddy Pimblett in Saturday’s UFC 314 co-main event at Kaseya Center.

On a three-fight losing skid himself, Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is looking to compete one more time before calling it a career. He urges Chandler to consider doing the same.

“I’m 0-3 now, so I get it, Chandler,” Cejudo told MMA Junkie. “He probably has to get one more and just consider retirement. That’s a lot of beatings, man.”

Cejudo thinks Chandler never lived up to his potential in the UFC. The former Bellator champion had competitive fights with the upper echelon of the UFC’s lightweight division but wound up falling short against Charles Oliveira twice, Justin Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier.

“I think Chandler could have been the best in the world,” Cejudo said. “He’s too much of a crowd pleaser and that has really bit him in the ass. Mike Perry was a crowd pleaser, too. There’s only a certain time before the UFC just says, ‘Hey man, thank you for pleasing us, but we got to move on.’ I feel like Chandler, they’re probably going to, at this point, maybe the UFC might give him a younger guy, and that’s typically what happens in this game.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Michael Bisping: UFC 314 loss to Paddy Pimblett ‘a career-killing performance’ for Michael Chandler

Michael Bisping has officially ruled out Michael Chandler as a top lightweight contender after UFC 314.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] has officially ruled out [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] as a top lightweight contender after UFC 314.

Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) suffered a third-round TKO loss to [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event at Kaseya Center in Miami. The former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger now has lost three consecutive fights and five of his past six.

Chandler constantly uses the moniker “see you at the top,” but Bisping believes those days are over.

“I don’t say this lightly, but that was a career-killing performance for Michael Chandler,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Yes, of course, he’ll fight again. Yes, he’ll still make money. Yes, people will want to tune in. But that’s it. There ain’t no more title talks, there is no more,’see you at the top.’ There’s none of that.

“Paddy Pimblett just put an end to all of that. If he was 30 years old, he could have another go. He could dust himself off and have another crack at the whip. But no, father time is undefeated. He’s 38 years old, and there ain’t no way that he’s getting back into title contention ever again.”

On the contrary, Bisping was very impressed with Pimblett’s largely one-sided performance against Chandler.

“Paddy Pimblett looked ridiculous,” Bisping said. “He looked like the guy that he’s always spoke about, the person that he says that he is, the person that calls out everyone, that dismisses all the opposition at the top. And for someone who doesn’t call people out, he called out everyone.

“Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, he did not give a single f*ck and rightly so. The man is coming to be a champion. Will he do that? We don’t know, but I’ll tell you what: After this performance, everyone’s going to be taking him a lot more seriously. He looked like a killer tonight.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: UFC 314 fallout for Volkanovski and Pimblett, plus GFL’s debacle and more

On the latest episode of Spinning Back Clique, the panel looks back at UFC 314, talks about the latest major MMA news and more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Farah Hannoun, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia, along with special guest coach Eric Nicksick from Xtreme Couture, live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:

  • UFC 314 saw the vacant featherweight belt go to [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] when he beat [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]. Also, UFC star [autotag]Paddy Pimblett [/autotag] took a giant leap in his career when he destroyed former Bellator champion [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] in the co-main event. We look back at those bouts, plus many other key fights on the card.
  • The fallout of fighters leaving the PFL, particularly ones who came over from Bellator, continues. The latest is Aaron Pico, who has signed with the UFC. We talk about his potential there in the featherweight division.
  • She retired, but we know how that goes in MMA. Former UFC two-division champion Amanda Nunes told MMA Junkie she’s fully prepared to return to fight the winner of Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison. She’s also going into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer. But should she come back?
  • If it ever was fair to call something a dumpster fire, now might be the time. The Global Fight League made giant promises, “signed” giant names and made a big fuss over fighter revenue splits and a “live” draft. Then it canceled both its shows in Los Angeles next month because it can’t pay the bills.

Dana White reacts to Michael Chandler’s future after UFC 314 stoppage loss to Paddy Pimblett

Michael Chandler suffered his third-straight loss at UFC 314.

MIAMI – [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] suffered his third-straight loss at UFC 314.

Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) was stopped by Paddy Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in a third-round TKO loss Saturday at Kaseya Center. The former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger has now lost five of his past six fights.

Despite Chandler being in a rocky situation, UFC CEO Dana White had nothing but praise for him.

“I mean, he’s always in the fight,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 314 post-fight press conference. “Tonight was a big night for Paddy Pimblett. Like we were just talking about, people have been doubting Paddy Pimblett every single fight he fights, and he’s undefeated in the UFC. But Chandler is like our Arturo Gatti, man. Every time that guy goes in, you know you’re in for a good fight, you know it’s going to be a war, and you don’t know whether he’s going to win or lose.”

Prior to the Pimblett loss, Chandler earned four straight bonuses, including a Fight of the Year against Justin Gaethje. However, the loss to Pimblett will now push Chandler further down the UFC lightweight rankings after not winning a fight since knocking out the skidding Tony Ferguson in 2022.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Dana White: Paddy Pimblett ‘the real deal’ after stopping Michael Chandler at UFC 314

Dana White praises Paddy Pimblett for his stoppage win over Michael Chandler at Saturday’s UFC 314 in Miami.

MIAMI – [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] impressed many at UFC 314, including UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag].

In his biggest career fight, Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) dominated and stopped former Bellator champion [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) by third-round TKO in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC pay-per-view, which took place at Kaseya Center.

White believes this was a key win for Paddy “The Baddy,” as he silenced the doubters and critics of his UFC run.

“People keep counting him out, but he keeps looking better, better, and better every time he shows up,” White told reporters at the UFC 314 post-fight press conference. “Yeah, Paddy Pimblett showed tonight he’s the real deal. Beating Michael Chandler and beating him the way he did, I don’t know how you can’t doubt the kid anymore.”

After the fight, Pimblett took aim at the top dogs of the division, calling out contenders Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, and Arman Tsarukyan.

White agrees with the Englishman, and says big fights await him.

“He’s in that spot where he’s going to be fighting top guys.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

UFC 314 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Michael Chandler, Paddy Pimblett combine for $12,000

Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett combined for a $12,000 payout under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program at UFC 314.

MIAMI – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 314 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $300,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC 314 took place at Kaseya Center. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC 314 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

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[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag]: $32,000
def. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Nikita Krylov[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Sean Woodson[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Julian Erosa[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Darren Elkins[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Michal Oleksiejczuk[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Sedriques Dumas[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Su Mudaerji[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Mitch Raposo[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Marco Tulio[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Tresean Gore[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Nora Cornolle[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Hailey Cowan[/autotag]: $4,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2025 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $2,579,500
2024 total: $8,280,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $33,597,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

‘Bad night for Bellator’: Fighters react to Paddy Pimblett’s bloody TKO of Michael Chandler at UFC 314

The MMA community reacted to Paddy Pimblett’s bloody beatdown and finish of Michael Chandler in the UFC 314 co-main event.

[autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] passed the latest test in his budding career Saturday when he defeated former Bellator champion [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] in the UFC 314 co-main event.

Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) broke in to the top 10 of the lightweight rankings courtesy of a third-round TKO victory over Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) in the co-headliner at Kaseya Center in Miami, and now he has some massive fights on the horizon.

Check below for the top X (formerly Twitter) reactions to Pimblett beating Chandler at UFC 314.

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UFC 314 results: Paddy Pimblett mauls Michael Chandler, calls out top names at lightweight

Paddy Pimblett notched the biggest win of his career, stopping former Bellator champion Michael Chandler at Saturday’s UFC 314 in Miami.

MIAMI – [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] silenced many doubters.

The English star notched his biggest career win, defeating former Bellator lightweight champion [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] in dominant fashion.

Pimblett (22-4 MMA, 7-0 UFC) stopped Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) with ground-and-pound in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 314 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), which takes place at Kaseya Center in Miami. The official stoppage came at the 3:07 mark of Round 3.

It was a career-best performance for Pimblett.

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Chandler did have success early on, but it was only for a brief period.. He was able to close the distance, takedown Pimblett, and control him for a good chunk of the round. However, the fight in the final minute or so did develop on the feet, with Pimblett pressing the action and looking to attack.

After Round 1, things took a big turn. Pimblett dominated the action on the feet and on the ground. He connected shots and was also able to get back of Chandler, while doing a lot of damage with elbows.

The same momentum followed in Round 3, as Pimblett badly hurt Chandler and then took him down to the ground. From there, it was all downhill for Chandler. Pimblett landed nasty shots from top, and mauled Chandler for well over a minute, forcing the referee to stop the action.

Pimblett remains undefeated in the UFC with seven wins. This was also his fifth stoppage win in the promotion. After the fight, Pimblett called for a top contender fight at 155 pounds.

“Anyone in the top four, top five (is who I want next). I want that world title. … I want Dustin (Poirier), Justin (Gaethje), Charles (Oliveira) or the little posh boy Arman (Tsarukyan) – any of them four.”

On the other hand, Chandler, 38, now finds himself on a three-fight losing streak and 1-5 in his past six performances. This is worst career run.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 314 results include:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.

Paddy Pimblett def. Michael Chandler at UFC 314: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Paddy Pimblett’s third-round TKO win over Michael Chandler at UFC 314.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag]’s third-round TKO win over [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] at UFC 314 at Kaseya Center in Miami. (Photos by Sam Navarro, USA Today Sports; MMA Junkie; UFC)