Michael Chandler: UFC Fighter Shares Why Mindset Matters More Than Skills | TUH #097

I'm 38 years old. You're not supposed to be fighting at this high of a level at 38 years old.

The news is just exploding over the Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler fight. What's going on there?

Conor McGregor, yes, of course I want to fight him, but I do not need Conor McGregor for my legacy. The Chandler McGregor fight will happen eventually. It's just not now.

Where does faith fall into the picture for you?

It's been revealed to me so many times over my entire life in all these different seasons how God has had me in the palm of his hand. And even in the seasons where I feel like everything's over, right when I lost three fights in a row, that's when you start to question things. But then you look back and you say, man, I needed that.

Talk a little bit about what your regimen is like to have your body in top physical condition.

What we have been starting to work together. The hypermax oxygen, the cold plunge, the pimp mat, and the red light. This was the best I have ever felt in my entire life at 38 years old.

What can the fans expect next out of Michael Chandley? We got a date set.

Now the next step.

Today's guest, Michael Chandler, is a three time Bellator lightweight champion and one of the most electrifying fighters to ever fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. You're really going to get to know him during this podcast. He's relevant in the news right now, trying to get this Conor McGregor fight to really happen. And he talks about his road to the championship and how it's a actually not going through Conor McGregor anymore. He's going to talk about what he thinks about Conor McGregor, when and if that fight's going to happen and how he's going to get to his next UFC title. What's really amazing about this podcast is you're really going to get to know who Michael Chandler is. You're going to get to know the family man, the father, the D1 walk on championship wrestler. You're going to really get insight into the fabric of who this gentleman is. I have so much respect for him. After this podcast, it's going to be one of the most enjoyable podcasts for you guys to watch, even if you are not a fight fan. There's so much to unpack here about the man, Michael Chandler. Listen and enjoy, guys. Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist Gary Brea, where we go down the road of everything. Anti aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And today's guest is. Unless you've been in a coma, and maybe even if you have been in a coma, you know, my next guest, because he is all over the news right now. It is the biggest thing going on in fight sports. We're out in Las Vegas with my good, good friend, Michael Chandler. Welcome to the podcast, brother.

Thank you.

I'm super pumped to have you on me as well. This is awesome.

Thanks for having me.

Yeah, I mean, it's. It's you and I've had a. A little bit of a journey together, and we're going to talk about that on the recovery side and everything else, but we scheduled this podcast and I came out for the. The, you know, the UFC 306, you know, at the sphere. I'm all excited to go to the sphere. And, dude, the news is just exploding over the Conor McGregor Michael Chandler fight. I think that Dana first leaked it out, you know, by accident that the fight was off. So tell me, man, in your own words, like, what. What's going on there? What's up with you?

So, yeah, so I've. I've known for about four weeks that we were going to make. Make a pivot, and I wasn't sure when they. When it was actually going to get announced. I was hoping it was going to get announced this.

Oh, so you knew it was off for a while?

Yeah, yeah, well, I've known. So the fight was never off unless I wanted to make it be off necessarily, or just wait for Conor. And I was just. At some point, you know, I don't want to ever look back and say I wasted too much time. I gave it the old college try. I gave it a good enough try. Me and Connor got us a contract signed to fight in June 29, and then he pulls out. And then they gave me the opportunity and said, hey, well, there's Charles Oliveira is waiting in their wings. He needs a fight. That's a big fight. It's a rematch.

Huge fight for you.

Yeah, I mean, it's. It's one of those, you know, in mixed martial arts, you want, obviously, you want the biggest fights possible and you want the bright fights at the right time. This is the right time to fight Charles Oliveira. It'll be a number one contender fight. And then I go from being a guy who sat out a little bit waiting for the Connor thing, which I had the huge promotion of the Ultimate Fighter and had a lot of growth over the last year, didn't take any damage. It was all really good. But then now coming into this fight and Waiting for Conor, and I'm going to be able to come back, beat Charles Oliveira, and then become the number one contender, get the opportunity to fight for the title if I want next, or if Conor can finally get his house in order, string together a training camp, proves to everybody that he's going to come back and is serious about making the greatest comeback in combat sports history, then we can finish the Chandler vs Conor McGregor fight that it was supposed to happen. I believe that fight will happen at some point, and his road back to the UFC goes straight through Nashville, Tennessee, to fight me. That's. That's it.

He's.

He. He can't just come back and pick and choose who he wants to fight. So I'm gonna take a little detour, go continue to chase my number one goal, which has always been my number one goal, to become the number one guy in the world and fight for a world title, win the world title. And I gotta be Charles Oliveira first to do that and then go beat Islam or Conor.

And the thing about this Conor fight is that, you know, Conor's not on the pathway to becoming a world champion. I mean, he's. It's probably the fight that the media most wants to see, that the fans most want to see. I mean, arguably the biggest, you know, fight in UFC history. But is that really a fight for Michael Chandler? I mean, is this really something for your career or.

Yeah, I mean, obviously, I knew. I knew that going into. When Hunter Campbell called me to do the Ultimate Fighter in January of 2023, which I had to leave in February, come here to Vegas and film it, I knew that. It's like, hey, everyone's talking about this fight. This is a fight that makes sense. He wants to do the Ultimate Fighter. Would you like to do the Ultimate Fighter? The answer is yes, because the Ultimate Fighter, the history of it, the platform of it, 12 hours, 12 weeks on ESPN, and everything that came with it was a huge opportunity. Plus, the biggest combat store, biggest combat star on the planet is Conor McGregor. Yes, of course I want to fight him. I knew it wasn't a fight that got me toward the title athletically, but.

Or career advancement wise.

Advancement. But, yeah, but it kind of is, too, because, yes, this is a sport, but it also depends a lot on how big your name is, how much weight is behind your name. A win over Conor McGregor with that many eyeballs, you know, the proof is in the pudding. It puts you more towards, you know, being in the position to fight for the title, so. I understand. Understood. The. The fight, the Fighting side of it didn't really check that box to get me toward the title, but it did from a promotional standpoint.

Yeah.

And ultimately, I'm here to make the biggest impact I possibly can. So the more people who know my name, the more people who see me, the more people who hear my voice. That's how I make the greatest amount of impact. So that's the way I kind of weighed the pros and cons of it all. But me and Connor will fight eventually. I just. Not next.

Not next.

Not next.

You know, I remember the, you know, the first time that the, you know, the fight started getting on wobbly legs. When did you. How did you first. I mean, I think there was a presser that was get. That got canceled. And, you know, I guess you could think, hey, they can cancel Oppressor and the fight's still on. But I remember that Oppressor got cancer, canceled overseas. And then the rumors started swirling and there's a whole. I mean, I. I actually went down deep down the rabbit hole and all the MMA sites before, even before jumping on the podcast. And there's all kinds of stuff out there about Conor, you know, good and bad about, you know, why this fight has been delayed so many times. I mean, everything from his injuries to partying to he had a big financial score to, you know, is he even going to get back in the ring again? And they all seem to have some measure of credibility.

Yep.

What's your take on. On this yo yo position? I'm not calling him yo yo yo. I did not call you.

No, the up and down nature of it, similar to a yo yo. Yeah.