Michael Chandler’s Proposal for Islam Makhachev Draws First Reaction From Khabib’s Camp Ahead of UFC 309

Despite being in the twilight years of his career, Michael Chandler has no plans of slowing down any time soon. Having let go of two years of his UFC prime at the hands of Conor McGregor, Chandler seems rejuvenated at the prospect of finding revenge against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309. In what seems like Chandler overreaching, the former Bellator lightweight champ is looking beyond Oliveira at a possible title bout, should he beat ‘do Bronx’. But one can’t blame ‘Iron’ Mike Chandler for even overreaching since the clock is ticking for the ageing MMA fighter.

During an interview with Kevin Iole, Chandler mentioned the undisputed champ Islam Makhachev in a roadmap for 2025. Whether it’s McGregor, Makhachev or even Max Holloway, Chandler expressed a willingness to fight whoever would oblige him. However, his mention of the lightweight champion didn’t sit well with Makhachev’s longtime manager who took to his X (formerly Twitter) account to share his honest opinion on Chandler’s plan.

Michael Chandler’s road map for 2025 isn’t quite impressive according to the Dagestani camp

After Chandler’s interview with Kevin Iole, MMA Orbit took to their X account to share Chandler’s vision for 2025. In an ideal situation, Chandler either wins a title shot or a big money fight. Reacting to MMA Orbit’s, Makhchev’s longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz expressed his amusement at Chandler’s plan with comment mocking him. He simply responded to the tweet with six laughing emojis – ““.

| Michael Chandler has broken down his plans going into 2025 in an interview with @KevinI:

Beat Charles Oliveira at #UFC309
Beat Conor McGregor in March
Beat Islam Makhachev in June/July
Defend against Max Holloway pic.twitter.com/lB7I54I4DE

— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) November 8, 2024

Here’s what Michael Chandler told Kevin Iole, “Let me give you my roadmap real quick, all right? I’ve already got it mapped out. Charles Oliveira – November 16th, I beat him, I become the number one contender. I’m sitting cage-side watching Islam and Arman [in] the first month or so of 2025, right.” He further added, “If Conor is able to come back, I can fight Conor and March, then I can fight Islam in June, in July, beat him. Same night, Max Holloway who has moved up to lightweight fights a top five, becomes top five guy, becomes the number one contender,”. 

In order to fight Islam Makhachev, ‘Iron’ will first have to get past the 34-10 Brazilian finisher. If Chandler gets his revenge against ‘do Bronx’, his 2025 plan seems like an incredible idea. If he loses, however, he stands at the heels of getting roasted and written off by fans in his twilight years. On the other hand, Charles Oliveira will look to find his revenge against Islam Makhachev with a win over Michael Chandler. He won the lightweight title against Chandler, but lost the opportunity to keep it against Islam Makhachev. Furthermore, ‘do Bronx’ never really lost his belt, as he was stripped of it for missing weight against Justin Gaethje, which he won via first-round submission.

Charles Oliveira is determined to win back the title which he never lost

Former UFC lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira has been a dominant force in the lightweight division, but luck has not always been on his side. The Brazilian has faced multiple setbacks; losing his belt due to being stripped, losing the vacant belt to Islam Makhachev, and losing his last bout to Arman Tsarukyan in a razor-thin bout at UFC 300. Tsarukyan won the fight via a split decision, leaving a frustrated ‘do Bronx’ to questioned the scorecards. He claimed that he won the “first” and “third” rounds, but he didn’t dwell on the controversy, stating, “I am a non-controversy guy.” 

However, he has a chance to correct all his setbacks with a second win over ‘Iron’ Mike Chandler. ‘Do Bronx’ will look to end the fight in the same way he did at UFC 262. The former champion also feels like he never lost the belt and expressed the same in an interview with TMZ Sports –  “I didn’t lose the belt—my belt was stolen from me. I didn’t lose the belt; in fact, I was robbed.” With alleged rumors of their fight falling out now debunked, fans are well on their way to being treated to an epic showdown between the lightweight titans.

Who will find their way to a title shot after the UFC 309 co-main ends on Saturday? Will Charles Oliveira get another crack at being champion, or will Chandler’s project 2025 come to fruition? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Michael Chandler’s Proposal for Islam Makhachev Draws First Reaction From Khabib’s Camp Ahead of UFC 309 appeared first on EssentiallySports.