Michael Chandler out to prove he's not past-prime at UFC Freedom 250

Michael Chandler understands the optics aren’t necessarily in his favor, but he still feels like he’s very much in his prime.

Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC), a former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger, still considers himself one of the best lightweights in the world despite being on a three-fight losing streak and recently having turned 40. He thinks this latest rut is a bit deceiving, given he’s been fighting the very best, and believes his most recent loss to Paddy Pimblett partly came from wrong decision-making on his part.

Chandler not only claims to still be prime, but he also wants to show it. He gets an opportunity to do so on June 14 against Mauricio Ruffy (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Paramount+).

“Yeah, you know, in this sport, it moves fast, and then sometimes you’ve got to pull yourself away, and you’ve got to recalculate and recalibrate,” Chandler told MMA Junkie. “Everything changes with time and circumstance. I think after the Paddy fight, which I am very, very disappointed in my performance, very disappointed in how I competed, disappointed in the way that that fight went, I needed some time to lick my wounds. I needed some time to recalibrate, put some things on paper, really define myself. Who am I? How do I fight? And what do I bring to the table as an athlete? And I had an ample amount of time to reassess. I think if anything, I’m a better man for it. I’m more mature. I was able to accept it and now move on. I’m in a much better place than I was.

“That whole couple-year period, man, you know, the waiting for Conor (McGregor) and then all of a sudden the Conor fight is gone, then it’s like you got to make a decision, ‘OK, we’re fighting Oliveira at Madison Square Garden.’ I fall short there, and immediately I want to get back on the horse, probably a little bit too soon. I was coming off of an injury and didn’t really get to properly rehab that and threw myself right into a training camp with Paddy to right the wrong, so to speak, of the Oliveira fight. And it turned out to be not a great performance, but it’s neither here nor there. It’s a learning lesson. It added layers to my human. I’m a better man because of it. I believe you’re going to see the best version of me on the White House lawn on June 14th.”

Chandler finds himself 1-5 in his last six outings, with his only victory being a KO win over Tony Ferguson. At this stage of his career, he understands why he might have doubters and why he’s the underdog going against Ruffy.

“I think it’s commonplace for human nature to completely bastardize the blessing of the human spirit, like completely downplay what humans are really capable of,” Chandler said. “Past 30 years old, it’s all downhill. Past 40, everyone’s over the hill. Life basically ends at 40. Man, I’m not just saying this; it’s not hyperbole, dude, I still feel just as good now doing a 12-week training camp at 40 years old as I did when I was 20, 25 years old. If anything, it’s probably better because I’ve dialed in my nutrition better, I’ve dialed in my mental game better, and I’ve dialed in my training style. You know, it’s not just balls-to-the-wall, running your head into a brick wall every single day. It’s calculated. It’s planned out. It’s more cerebral.

“You look at my last performance, you have every right to believe that I have fallen off, that I will never be champion, that I have lost it, and I’m sailing off into the sunset. I’m going to go out there and get absolutely smashed by Mauricio Ruffy, and then you’ll never hear from me again. You have every right to believe that. You have every right to say that. There’s no problem with that. With that being said, I believe I will prove all those people wrong, and I’m excited to do it here in just a little over a week’s time.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Michael Chandler out to prove he’s not past-prime at UFC Freedom 250