Michael Chandler is becoming increasingly frustrated by the narrative that he is a persistent cheater inside the Octagon.
Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) is set to face Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a five-round co-main event at UFC 314 in Miami, Florida this Saturday and over recent months “Iron” Mike has been the subject of repetitive cheating allegations concerning his last two fights against Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira.
As fight week looms, the former Bellator champion has decided to address those accusations.
“I mean, the narrative is tough, man,” Chandler said during an interview with MMA Fighting this week. “People don’t really know me. Unless you’re in my inner circle, you don’t know who I truly am outside of (being) in front of the camera. People have their sneaky suspicions that I play nice in front of the camera, and I’m a bad guy behind the camera. You’re always going to have those accusations, right?
“But I know who I am, and I know who I am at my core. I’m a guy who tries to do things right, tries to treat people right, do things with honor and respect. So the cheating narrative is a little tough for me, but also, it’s all part of the court of public opinion, man.”
Chandler fought 23 times under the Bellator banner over a ten-year period before debuting inside the Octagon in January of 2021, and while he currently has a negative record in the UFC, he has managed to pick up five ‘performance of the night’ bonuses in his six appearances so far.
Dustin Poirier has been quite vocal in his criticism of Chandler, recalling a number of alleged cheating incidents from their clash back in 2022, while many fans pointed the finger at Chandler for raining down hammerfists on the back of Charles Oliveira’s head in the final round of their fight at UFC 309 in November.
“Did I grab Dustin Poirier’s mouthpiece? Yes, I did, because I thought it was his chin,” Chandler said. “I’ve already addressed that one. Things happen in a fight. Are you going to reach over and grab the cage? Are you going to get your fingers in the glove? Yeah. Those things are going to happen in a fight.
“In the last fight, Charles Oliveira dug his chin so deep into my eye socket that I thought I was going to go blind, which is illegal. It’s an eye gouge, right? He was grabbing my gloves when he was trying to choke me. These things happen when you’re inside of the cage. I would never say that Charles Oliveira is a cheater. His body is reacting and doing things without his brain’s permission. You’re in fight or flight. Things happen. So it’s a tough narrative.”
