Michael Chandler sees a lot of similarities between his style and Justin Gaethje’s, but he plans on outlasting him.
Chandler (22-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is slated to meet Gaethje (22-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) on Nov. 6 at UFC 268 in a matchup between two of the most battle-tested lightweights on the roster.
The former title challengers will be vying for another crack at the title, and Chandler expects violence. He drew a lot from Gaethje’s past losses to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier and sees their fight playing out in similar fashion.
“Obviously his best weapon is his leg kicks, coupled with his cardio and his ability to just wing punches for 25 minutes or 15 minutes,” Chandler said during a session on his Instagram Live. “I believe my strengths are high pace, high cardio, a lot of punches, being able to withstand damage, and continue to trod forward, and have a good fight. I honestly see the fight going very similar to Justin Gaethje vs. Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier.
“He lost both of those fights, but obviously I’m not underestimating Justin Gaethje. I think he’s one of the best in the world, if not the best in the world if I’m being completely honest. So that excites me, kinda scares me, keeps me up at night, makes me want to wake up early and put together a great training camp. So I believe we stand in the middle and trade for 15 minutes, and we’ll see who goes down first.”
With both men willing to stand and trade, Chandler envisions catching Gaethje in the later rounds after they both test each other’s chins.
“I do think I can knock him out,” Chandler said. “He’s been knocked out in the past. He’s also weathered some crazy storms, so I think this fight is about patience, precision, poise, confidence and cardio, and I think I have all of those attributes. I also think Justin has all those attributes. I think both of us have been in some crazy fights, we both have proven that we can keep a high pace.
“I believe I knock him out in the third round just like Eddie Alvarez did, just like Dustin Poirier did. I think we get into a firefight, we stand toe to toe, we entertain you guys for 12 to 13 minutes, and I finish by TKO or clean KO in the third round.”
Michael Chandler predicts third-round knockout of Justin Gaethje in ‘firefight’ at UFC 268
