As Justin Gaethje waits on his next assignment from UFC officials, Michael Chandler is a name that fans, at least, keep mentioning as a possibility.
Gaethje’s manager, Dominance MMA head Ali Abdelaziz, says his client is more than willing to take the fight but doesn’t think it necessarily makes a whole lot of sense in terms of quality.
“Michael Chandler is trying so hard to fight Justin Gaethje; Justin will fight him,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “It’s no problem, no problem at all. But in my opinion, he’s a little lower level than Michael Johnson.”
Chandler (22-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC), of course, is a former three-time Bellator lightweight champion who made a big splash in his UFC debut, knocking out perennial contender Dan Hooker at January’s UFC 257 event.
Meanwhile, Johnson (19-16 MMA, 11-12 UFC) is in action at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 184 event in Las Vegas, where he takes on fellow longtime veteran Clay Guida (35-20 MMA, 15-14 UFC).
Johnson has struggled to find consistent results throughout his 11-year run in the sport’s biggest promotion, but he’s often show flashes of greatness, picking up wins over notables such as Edson Barboza, Danny Castillo, Tony Ferguson, Andre Fili, Melvin Guillard, Joe Lauzon, Dustin Poirier, Gleison Tibau, and even the GOAT, himself, Artem Lobov.
However, the 34-year-old lightweight is currently mired in a three-fight slump that he hopes to end on Saturday.
Abdelaziz says Chandler’s skills equate more to Johnson’s recent form than that shown in the biggest wins of his career.
“Michael Chandler is a little bit less of a fighter than when Michael Johnson was in his prime,” Abdelaziz said. “They’re both Michael, but I believe Michael Johnson was the better fighter. I think Michael Chandler is not like Michael Johnson used to be. He’s not like the Michael Johnson who beat Tony Ferguson, knocked out Dustin Poirier, beat all these guys. Mike Chandler is an old version of Michael Johnson.”
