Michael Chandler addresses his loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 262, what went wrong and how he’s handling this defeat compared to past setbacks in his career. Chandler also discusses a possible showdown against Justin Gaethje next while responding to Eddie Alvarez saying that would be a “terrible matchup” for him
It’s hard to imagine anyone handling a loss better than Michael Chandler as he faced the music after suffering a second-round TKO to new lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 262.
While losing is never easy, Michael Chandler hasn’t shied away from doing interviews or speaking openly about the mistakes he made that night after nearly finishing the Brazilian in the first round but then having the tables turned on him just moments after the second round started.
“I blame this completely on myself,” Michael Chandler said when speaking to MMA Fighting on Tuesday. “I took one on the chin. I didn’t have my hand up and Charles Oliveira was able to finish me. I was very close to finishing him in the first round, which probably makes it even harder to accept. The fact that I was a split second or one second or one more punch of becoming the UFC lightweight champion but I lost in the second round. I got finished in the second round. I’m taking full ownership of that.
“I’ve been in contact with my coaches promising that I’m going to be more disciplined in my striking. I’m going to be more disciplined in my approach to the game. We make some adjustments, we go back to the drawing boards. I am by no means anywhere close to being done with this sport.”