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Michael Chandler hasn't been shy about saying that he's willing to compete at weights above 155. Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has won over fans with his performances since joining the UFC team in 2020, regardless of the outcome. He has stated again that Conor McGregor should come next, but who else might catch his attention?
Only one week since his Fight of the Night loss over Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler is already considering a rematch with UFC 'BMF' champion Jorge Masvidal. In a recent interview with ESPN, "Iron Mike" proposed the contest, urging "Gamebred" to risk losing the BMF championship to crown a new "baddest motherf-cker" for the UFC.
Following two thrilling matches against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje and his probable Knockout of the Year victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274, Chandler considers himself a legitimate BMF contender. He imagines The Rock wearing the BMF belt around his waist, the same as Masvidal did after defeating Nate Diaz via TKO in 2019.
In his last outing, former Bellator champion lost to Dustin Poirier by rear-naked choke submission in the third round at UFC 281, Chandler is looking to get back into title contention. While waiting for the perfect opponent, a move to Welterweight may be interesting. Perhaps a Jorge Masvidal partnership would work?
“You tell me who the BMF (Baddest Motherf—ker) is,” Chandler told ESPN. “you tell me who the fans, if we did a poll right now, who’s the baddest mother fudger in the UFC? I’ve got a couple awards on my mantel right now. I think I’ll add a couple more — possibly Knockout of the Year, possibly Fight of the Year of 2023. But that BMF belt sure would look good next to them.
“Is it a fight that I’ve really thought about a ton in the past? Not really,” he added. “But tell me that wouldn’t get the juices flowing of the entire mixed martial arts world: Michael Chandler versus Jorge Masvidal for the BMF belt, [Dwayne] ‘The Rock’ [Johnson] walking in with it over his shoulder and then handing it to me 15 minutes later.
Masvidal defeated Nate Diaz in a third-round technical knockout in November 2019 to become the first and only BMF champion. Since then, however, "Gamebred" has struggled, suffering three straight defeats, and finding himself in legal difficulties regarding Colby Covington, his previous opponent.
Despite being on a losing path, Jorge Masvidal remains in demand. Being an asset for the biggest promotion of MMA, Masvidal can help out with huge pay-per-view sales. On the other hand, Jorge Masvidal has been called out by Gilbert Burns for a while, but up until recently, he didn't seem interested in the fight. 'Gamebred' recently asserted that it couldn't respond to Burns' callouts because of its engagement in the midterm elections in November.
Masvidal went on to say that he now wants to fight the Brazilian in London alongside Leon Edwards' championship defense against Kamaru Usman on the same card.