Preview! Is Michael Chandler For Real?

Former Bellator MMA 155-pound champion Michael Chandler will (finally) make his Octagon debut against No. 6-ranked lightweight Dan Hooker in the UFC 257 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event TONIGHT (Sat., Jan. 23, 2021) inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.

I guess “Charlie Olives” had other plans.

Chandler is a three-time Bellator champion and one of the promotion’s biggest stars for a decade, going toe-to-toe against the best at 155 pounds, including Patricky Freire, Eddie Alvarez, Akihiro Gono, Will Brooks and Benson Henderson. He departed the organization on a win, handing Henderson his second career knockout loss.

Hooker is just one of several talented fighters coming out of New Zealand’s City Kickboxing alongside fellow Oceanians Israel Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski and Kai Kara-France. A “Fight of the Year” contender against Dustin Poirier snapped a four-fight win streak, but cemented his position among the elite of UFC’s Lightweight division.

Check out the Chandler vs. Hooker video preview embedded above.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 257 fight card tonight, RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 257: “McGregor vs. Poirier 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the entire UFC 257 fight card and PPV line up click here.