Athletes
Michael Chandler | Humbled And Hungry | UFC Freedom 250
Lightweight Veteran Awed By Opportunity, Out To Make A Statement At UFC Freedom 250 Presented by Crypto.com & Ram
When the idea of UFC hosting an event on the White House lawn went from being a fantastical hypothetical to a historic reality, legions of competitors immediately began raising their hands and declaring their desires to be included as part of the once-in-a-lifetime event.
One athlete that always seemed destined to be a part of the festivities was Michael Chandler, the 40-year-old all-action lightweight who meets Mauricio Ruffy in the third of seven scheduled fights scheduled to take place on the June 14 event. A proud and passionate American, Chandler always profiled as an obvious choice, but despite that, the Missouri native remains blown away by the opportunity to participate in such a history-making fight card.
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“It’s really, really cool,” began Chandler. “When this fight card first got announced, or the idea —I think it was just a pie-in-the-sky idea to millions of millions of us who are in the sport, who follow the sport, and then it became real. Once it became real, everyone jockeying for position and just praying to God that they were gonna be on the most historic card not just in UFC history, but this is a celebration of America at an amazing time — 250 years, gonna be the biggest sporting event of the entire year, and to be a part of it is gonna be awesome.
“It really is the fulfillment of a dream,” he added. “At the very beginning, when I started this sport, I underperformed in wrestling, and I wanted to do something special in mixed martial arts. I wanted to be on the biggest platform possible. I wanted to change people’s view of what a mixed martial artist is and what this journey is, who we are as human beings outside of the techniques and the blood and the sweat; all the physical aspects of the sport. I’m humbled by the opportunity, and I’m humbled by the platform.”
After getting a chance to see the gear he and the other competitors would be fighting in when they venture out onto the South Lawn in a few weeks’ time during UFC 328 fight week in Newark and trying on the gear, the veteran lightweight admitted, “I kind of had this vision of what it felt like for our Olympic athletes who get to represent our country in the red, white, and blue, head-to-toe; it’s a really cool outfit. It’s got USA all over it; it’s red, white, and blue.
“I was never an Olympian —when I was chasing the wrestling dream, that was always kind of one of the goals. Obviously, that goal shifted, and I went into mixed martial arts, and now I get to represent America on its birthday. It’s pretty surreal, and it’s pretty awesome.”
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While the patriotic competitor is unquestionably awed by the opportunity and excited about the historic impact of this colossal event, there is also the little matter of an actual fight that he is working hard to keep front-and-center in his mind amidst all the build-up to this event.
“I’m trying not to make it too big in my mind because you can easily ramp it up way too much in your mind,” Chandler said. “You’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing. It’s punches, kicks, knees, elbows, grappling, and cardio. When that Octagon door closes, there is a ruleset, and you’ve got to go out there and get your hand raised.”
Where Chandler has struggled of late, Ruffy heads to Washington, DC, off a dynamic second-round stoppage win over Rafael Fiziev earlier this year in Sydney, Australia, where the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate collected the third Performance of the Night bonus of his career while pushing his record to 4-1 inside the Octagon.
But it’s that one that Chandler is focusing on the most as he readies to share the cage with the flashy and creative Brazilian.
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“Great competitor; I’ve got a heck of a lot of respect for him. I don’t believe he’s fought a guy like me,” he said before quickly amending his comment. “Actually, he has fought a guy like me in the past, and he didn’t fare very well.”
The American veteran was speaking about Ruffy’s matchup with French finisher Benoît Saint Denis last year in Paris, where Ruffy entered with a ton of momentum and exited with his first UFC loss after Saint Denis leveraged his superior grappling ability to drag his foe to the canvas, rough him up, and ultimately secure a second-round finish.
Inspired by the effort, Chandler intends to deploy a similar approach when the two stand opposite one another in just under a month.
“I’m gonna put my foot on the gas, I’m gonna get in his face, and I’m gonna put him into a fight; a real fight,” he said. “I don’t think he enjoys a real fight — he loves to be technical; he loves to keep the distance; he loves to go out there and do mixed martial arts. I wanna be in a street fight. I want to be in a dog fight. I want to be in a chaotic tornado, and I want to drag you into deep waters, and that’s the plan.”
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If he’s able to execute the plan, Chandler will not only be overjoyed to have earned a win ahead of America’s 250th birthday, but also to have reaffirmed his status in the treacherous lightweight ranks as well.
“To go out there, represent America, on her birthday, and get my hand raised in a dominant fashion, it’s the fulfillment of a dream,” he said. “But it’s also me solidifying myself and proving that I’m still one of the best lightweights on the planet and I can go out there and beat any lightweight on the planet on any given night.”
Don't miss a moment of UFC Freedom 250 presented by Crypto.com and Ram, live from The White House in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 14. The historic event begins at 8pm ET/5pm PT and can be streamed live on Paramount+.
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