Michael Chandler’s days among the elite in the UFC lightweight division may be numbered, according to UFC color commentator Michael Bisping.
The former Bellator champion, Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC), suffered a devastating loss to Paddy Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event at UFC 314 in Miami, Florida.
Since joining the UFC in 2021, Chandler has faced top contenders like Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira. But after dropping three straight fights, Bisping believes this could mark the end of Chandler as a serious threat in the UFC’s 155-pound division.
“I don’t say this lightly, but that was a career-killing performance for Michael Chandler,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Yes, of course, he’ll fight again. Yes, he’ll still make money. Yes, people will want to tune in. But that’s it. There ain’t no more title talks, there is no more,’see you at the top.’ There’s none of that.
“Paddy Pimblett just put an end to all of that. If he was 30 years old, he could have another go. He could dust himself off and have another crack at the whip. But no, father time is undefeated. He’s 38 years old, and there ain’t no way that he’s getting back into title contention ever again.”
While Bisping believes Chandler’s hopes of contending for the UFC lightweight title are now a thing of the past, he welcomed Paddy Pimblett’s emergence as a legitimate threat in the 155-pound title picture.
“Paddy Pimblett looked ridiculous,” Bisping said. “He looked like the guy that he’s always spoke about, the person that he says that he is, the person that calls out everyone, that dismisses all the opposition at the top. And for someone who doesn’t call people out, he called out everyone.
“Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, he did not give a single f*ck and rightly so. The man is coming to be a champion. Will he do that? We don’t know, but I’ll tell you what: After this performance, everyone’s going to be taking him a lot more seriously. He looked like a killer tonight.”
