MIAMI – Though Michael Chandler finds himself preventing within the co-main occasion of UFC 314, he believes his bout is the principle attraction.
Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC), a former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger, takes on rising British star Paddy Pimblett this Saturday at Kaseya Middle (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). They’ll be setting the stage for Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes, who combat for the vacant featherweight title in the principle occasion.
But, regardless of a title on the road, Chandler sees his bout with Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) as “The Individuals’s Important Occasion” of UFC 314.
“It is a sport. It’s about wins and loses and rankings, nevertheless it’s additionally about being in fights folks care about,” Chandler instructed reporters, together with MMA Junkie, at Wednesday’s UFC 314 media day. “It is a combat folks care about. Anytime I step contained in the octagon, and Paddy steps contained in the octagon, folks care. Individuals tune in to observe us lose or hopefully win in the event that they’re a fan of us. We each received that. This combat has the makings of ‘The Individuals’s Important Occasion.’”
Chandler enters on a two-fight dropping streak and with just one win in his previous 5 journeys to the octagon. The 38-year-old admits that he’s not in one of the best spot, however he’s not letting that get to him.
“I’ve solely had my again up in opposition to the wall twice within the UFC,” Chandler mentioned. “The primary time was coming into the UFC, my UFC debut. I had all the pieces to achieve, however I had quite a bit to lose. Clearly we noticed how I completed Dan Hooker in two-and-a-half minutes. A few fights later, I had my again in opposition to the wall in opposition to Tony Ferguson, who was ranked No. 7, and I used to be No. 5, and it was a dangerous scenario, and all of us noticed the KO of the Yr. I thrived in these moments, and I consider Saturday night time will likely be similar to the final two.
“You might want to undergo wrestle. You might want to undergo setbacks to seek out out who you might be. … Unhealthy issues need to occur so as so that you can discover out precisely who you might be, and I don’t even know what sort of streak I’m on or what number of days it’s been (with no win). It doesn’t matter. It’s in regards to the journey. It’s a lot much less about hyper specializing in the wins and the loses and being excellent. I’m simply attempting to achieve success. I’m not attempting to be excellent. I’m attempting to achieve success.”
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