The recently concluded UFC 309 featured the highly anticipated rematch battle between Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira. The night was a night of thrills and a spectacular display of sportsmanship by both opponents, but Chandler left the cage with more injuries than he bargained for.
The fight was a five-round slugfest, with Chandler and Oliveira giving it all they had, but in the end, Oliveira emerged victorious via unanimous decision. The bout was a tough one for Chandler, as he suffered a couple of takedowns and was almost submitted with a rear naked choke, but he pulled through. Following this fierce battle, Chandler revealed he left the octagon in more pain than he had ever been in before.
“My body is jacked,” Chandler said. “My heart is full. Let’s start with the heart. My heart is full. … I’m just happy to be home. It was good. I had a phenomenal training camp. We went to war, and we did our thing.
“My body, the most pain I’ve ever been in my entire life. The most injuries I’ve had in a fight, for sure. Peed blood, inflammation all over, my whole body is swollen. … The first [blood in my urine] was very light, which was in my drug test. … It had a light tint, and the second one was beet-looking juice. It was dark.”
The fighter said he suffered a knee injury during the battle, which affected his performance, but he was resigned to finishing the match no matter the cost.
“I think something happened to the knee in that first exchange when he had the leg, and I did that full 360. He did a kneebar thing because I walked back to the stool and looked down at my left leg. It was not working right,” Chandler said. “It wasn’t stepping, it wasn’t catching, it was unstable, it was weird. … You know what it feels like to be on a solid foundation, to walk forward, move forward, attack, and I just wasn’t.
“Moving backward was no problem. So, my body and my brain were telling me moving backward was cool, but moving forward, planting and being in his face, pressure — even if you go back and watch the fifth [round] … whenever I was pursuing him, my leg was almost flopping rather than stalking and moving forward. …
“We’ll see what happened. But essentially, for 23 minutes of that fight, I don’t know if the leg was really working that well.”
Despite suffering this injury, Chandler managed to land some well-time punches and gave as good as he could. However, he soon started to slow down during the fourth round. He got rocked in the fifth round and almost got submitted, but he pulled through and remained in the fight.
Following this fight, Chandler revealed he will be undergoing an MRI scan soon. He plans to take some time off to prepare for his long-awaited matchup with Conor McGregor, which will take place in 2025.
“Looks like it’s going to be Conor next,” Chandler said. “I’m not saying it’s a real reality, but I am saying if he does his road comes straight through Nashville, Tennessee. His road back to the UFC, we have to finish The Ultimate Fighter. The UFC wants to finish The Ultimate Fighter, Conor wants to fight me. He can fight anybody, but he made a commitment. …
“He’s more sentimental and romantic about the sport than people give him credit for because he has become this big, infamous brand. But he knows he’s nothing without that UFC octagon. He knows he’s nothing without the UFC. He was a plumber on welfare sleeping on a couch, and without the UFC, he’s nothing.
“So I think he wants to see through to his commitment. Quite frankly, he needs to come back. He needs something to chase, or else he’s going to keep chasing the wrong things. And if he does, there’s a guy waiting and I just so happen to think I’m one of the top draws in the UFC. People will pay good money to watch me fight, no matter what.”
