Michael Chandler has acknowledged the challenges of dealing with the public perception that he’s a cheater in the UFC.
Despite the noise surrounding him, he asserts that he is confident in his character ahead of his five-round co-main event clash against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 in Miami this Saturday.
Chandler is aware of the accusations that followed his loss to Dustin Poirier at Madison Square Garden and most recently against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309.
“I mean, the narrative is tough, man,” Chandler told MMA Fighting. “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 enters his upcoming 2025 octagon appearance with a record of 2-4 in his UFC career. He is now focused on ending a near three-year winless streak.
“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.”
