The biggest headlines in Thursday's avalanche of fight announcements may have been reserved for Ilia Topuria's defection from the featherweight division, or for the news that Alexander Volkanovski will fight Diego Lopes in a bid to win back the belt he lost to "El Matador" last year.
But amidst the chaos of UFC president Dana White's Instagram video on Wednesday night, a fascinating bout in the lightweight division was also shoehorned into the co-main event slot at UFC 314.
Michael Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) will square off against UK star Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in Miami, Florida on April 12th and the former Bellator star has been detailing exactly how he found out about the fight.
"In this sport, things move very fast" Chandler said in a video posted to his X account. "I was on a vacation last week, got a call (from UFC executive vice president Hunter Campbell), and said, 'Hey, what do you think about fighting Paddy Pimblett in April?' And I said, 'Well, Hunter, April's only eight weeks away. I like to put down about four weeks of training before I go into an eight-week camp. Let me think about it.'
"But the next day, I flew to Vegas, sat down with him in his office. We talked through everything, and we made the decision: fighting Paddy Pimblett, Miami, April 12th. Because an imperfect plan implemented now is better than a perfect plan implemented months from now. And in this sport, things move fast. There's a lot of stuff going on with the division. There's a big summer for the lightweight division".
Chandler Eager To Get Back To Winning Ways
After waiting in vain for over 2 years for his scheduled bout against Conor McGregor to take place, Chandler finally returned to the Octagon in November where he was outpointed by former champion Charles Oliveira, and the disappointment of that result played a part in his decision to accept the fight against Pimblett.
"After the last fight (against Oliveira), one of the most disappointing losses of my career, I wanted to get right back on the horse, get right back in the Octagon. So here we go. I like the matchup. Love the matchup, actually. I respect Paddy. I think Paddy's a skilled fighter. I think he's still got a bright future, but I think he's going to run into a buzzsaw named Michael Chandler on April 12th.
“And as always, I will be the most entertaining guy that steps inside the Octagon. I will have everybody on their feet. I will have everybody on the edge of their seat in typical Chandler fashion. We're going out there with one goal in mind, and that's to separate our opponent from consciousness. So I can't wait. We head into training camp today, and for the next eight weeks, we're going to be getting after it. Thank you guys for being with me on this journey. God bless. I'll see you at the top”.
