Michael Chandler ‘just cried’ after heartbreaking loss to Charles Oliveira, now Paddy Pimblett has to ‘pay for the pain’ he faced

When Michael Chandler accepted a rematch against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 this past November, he was confident he was going to win and go on to compete for the lightweight title in 2025.

Instead, he lost a one-sided decision, with Oliveira scoring five takedowns with nearly 15 minutes of control time. After sitting out for two years waiting for a showdown against Conor McGregor that never materialized, the now 38-year-old veteran felt like beating Oliveira and getting a title shot was the best possible consolation prize. However, after the disappointing loss, he was left battling his own doubts that perhaps his championship dreams had finally expired.

“I got into an SUV with my wife and just cried,” Chandler told MMA Fighting about his reaction to the loss. “I just sat there and I was just like I think this could have been the last one. This sport is hard to get a title shot. It’s like catching lightning in a bottle to get a title shot in the UFC. I felt like I squandered that opportunity and I said, ‘Babe, this could be the last one.’”

It was an incredibly difficult moment, but one Chandler had to suffer through before eventually reconciling with the setback and realizing that nothing in this sport is set in stone.

While he faced his own internal doubts, Chandler never shied away from the spotlight when it came time to talk about his shortcomings in the Oliveira rematch. He booked several interviews just days after the fight when many fighters would instinctually pass on those requests because it’s always easier to address a big win than a difficult loss.

“It was the most disappointed I’ve ever been in my entire life. Not just in fighting, but in my entire life,” Chandler said. “With that, I would have interviewed with you a couple days post-fight. Actually, truth be told, I stayed in New York for a day or two, I think it was Tuesday morning I was on Bussin’ with the Boys, on the bus in Nashville live recording a podcast.

“Because years ago, it was actually when I started my loss streak, I lost three fights in a row, 688 days without winning a fight. That first fight that I lost to Eddie Alvarez, I hid from everybody … I wanted to hide from it. I was so embarrassed. I wasn’t ready to deal with the feelings and the embarrassment and the pain of a loss. Now it’s par for the course. You’re going to win and you’re going to lose.”

Chandler faced the music after falling to Oliveira again, but this fight was particularly difficult because he felt so sure this was the moment he would avenge a past loss and finally vault himself back into title contention.

“I think I was just so dang sure that this is how it’s supposed to be,” Chandler explained. “I was going to lose to Charles Oliveira in the first fight, lose my opportunity at a world title to then get an opportunity to fight him for the No. 1 contender spot and then fight Islam [Makhachev], who is arguably a bigger name, a more seasoned champion and I was just 100 percent sure that I was going to win.

“Now, I’ve somewhat licked my wounds and I have a new fire about me. Cooler heads have prevailed and I thought no, this is just another loss. No big deal. We’re going to move forward.”

Barely three months removed from the Oliveira fight, Chandler got the call to face rising star Paddy Pimblett—6-0 in the UFC—in a five-round co-main event headed to Miami at UFC 314 on April 12. It wasn’t a matchup that most expected, especially considering Pimblett’s lack of experience against top-ranked competition in the UFC, but Chandler didn’t blink at the request.

On paper, he’s fighting down in the rankings without nearly as much to gain from this matchup as Pimblett, but that’s also part of what makes it so intriguing for Chandler.

“Based on résumé, this is a huge jump up but this is the nature of the business, the nature of the sport,” Chandler said. “You fight the top guys, you get opportunities to fight for the title, you get the opportunities to fight for a No. 1 contender and that’s what I’ve done thus far in the UFC. At some point you’ve got to fight a guy outside the top 10 to remind [everybody]. No. 1 to give them an opportunity, No. 2 to keep the division going. No. 3, not be a guy that just says yes to top 5 opponents.

“You had [Dustin] Poirier who fought [Benoit] Saint Denis. You had [Justin] Gaethje who fought [Rafael] Fiziev. You got all these different guys. I think wasn’t Dan Hooker outside the top 10 when he beat [Matuesz] Gamrot? You’ve got these matchups, they just have to happen. At some point you can’t just sit around and sit on your hands and say I’m only fighting top guys. Obviously I would love that. I threw Arman [Tsarukyan’s] name out there, anybody inside the top 10 sounded great but hey, Paddy Pimblett deserves an opportunity and I deserve an opportunity to go out there and show the difference between the guys I have been fighting and a guy who’s outside the top 10.”

As much as Chandler constantly reiterates he has absolutely nothing against Pimblett and no desire to talk trash about him leading up to the fight, he also recognizes how much he has to prove with this matchup.

For Pimblett, it’s a chance to take a huge leap forward in his career by taking out a former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger constantly lurking around the top 5 rankings in the lightweight division. Just based on résumés, Chandler doesn’t get nearly as much from a win, but that doesn’t account for the pent-up aggression he’s been bottling up since losing the fight to Oliveira that he can’t wait to unleash on April 12.

“Is there risk involved fighting a guy outside the top 10? Absolutely,” Chandler said. “Is it a lot better to fight guys in the top 3? Of course. But I’ve had those opportunities and now it’s my opportunity to continue to show the fans who I am and the difference of the levels inside the lightweight division.

“Somebody was going pay for the pain that I had in November. Somebody was going to pay for it. Unfortunately, I’ve got to take it out on Paddy Pimblett, but somebody was going to get it taken out on their face and their body and their soul months after that loss because that was a very painful one.”

Chandler has also had a change of heart when it comes to chasing a UFC title again before it’s all said and done in his career.

He was clearly devastated after losing to Oliveira this past November, but a little time and distance made him realize you’re only as good as your last fight and a lot can change if he goes out and lays waste to Pimblett at UFC 314.

“It is exactly how this sport works,” Chandler said. “Dustin Poirier is a great example of that. He beat Benoit Saint Denis, who not a lot of people knew. We knew who he was because he’s a tough dude but he wasn’t known by the masses. He goes out there and sparks him and all of a sudden he’s in a title shot because of circumstances going on.

“Similar to even me coming into the UFC. I should have not gotten a title shot in my second fight. But Poirier said no to the title fight because he had the third fight with Conor. He said no to a title fight so therefore I was the highest ranked guy and I got the title shot after Khabib [Nurmagomedov] retires. That’s just how this sport works.”