Michael Chandler is looking to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss against Charles Oliveira last November, and has targeted Paddy Pimblett or Arman Tsarukyan as potential opponents.
“I definitely think that it’s possible at this point,” Chandler said when asked about fighting Pimblett during an interview on Tim Welch’s YouTube channel. “This sport is so nuts. If you would have asked me before the Arman vs. Islam debacle, I would be like yeah, Paddy is a higher likelihood. Now, it might have gone down because why wouldn’t I fight Arman [Tsarukyan] next? Arman has got to fight his way back into the opportunity to fight for the title because of injury, hurt, weight cut or whatever it may be.
“But Paddy is definitely a possibility. It’s a big fight, it’s a fun fight and it’s a fight that I like stylistically. Not to take anything away from him, but when you’ve fought Poirier, you’ve fought (Justin) Gaethje, you’ve fought Oliveira, you’ve fought Dan Hooker, fighting Paddy Pimblett sounds like a fun day at the office compared to some of those.”
Pimblett himself had appeared to hint at fighting Chandler recently, so that’s a fight that certainly would make sense for both fighters at this stage, with the 7th ranked Chandler still able to command high-profile opportunities, as is the 12th ranked Pimblett, who is seeking to plot a route into the lightweight top 10.
However, the 38-year-old Chandler’s alternative suggestion to fight Tsarukyan instead feels like a bit of an overreach given that ‘Iron’ Mike has now lost four of his last five UFC fights, while the No.1 ranked Tsarukyan is on a four-fight winning streak and has only lost once in the past six years.
