Chandler is just giving fights away

[Shilajit]

I dont know if hes panicking in there, or that hes so married to this idea of being an all-action fighter, but I cant help but feel that hes giving wins away. The Poirier fight looked beyond winnable if he didnt spaz out from the get-go and emptied the gastank in round 1. He could probably have comfortably wrestlefucked Poirier if he commited to a disciplined gameplan.
Same with the Gaethje fight. Had he fought a somewhat smart fight he could have taken an important round and walked away with the victory.
The Oliveira fight is the only one I feel that he fought a good fight but simply got caught.

If he didnt go HAM every time he stepped in the cage he could currently be 4-1 in the UFC instead of 2-3.

The guys he's losing to are absolute warriors with incredible ability to come back

Being able to win a fight in a linear, technical context is one thing

The battle of wills is another

 

[Paul E Gensinger]

I dont know if hes panicking in there, or that hes so married to this idea of being an all-action fighter, but I cant help but feel that hes giving wins away. The Poirier fight looked beyond winnable if he didnt spaz out from the get-go and emptied the gastank in round 1. He could probably have comfortably wrestlefucked Poirier if he commited to a disciplined gameplan.
Same with the Gaethje fight. Had he fought a somewhat smart fight he could have taken an important round and walked away with the victory.
The Oliveira fight is the only one I feel that he fought a good fight but simply got caught.

If he didnt go HAM every time he stepped in the cage he could currently be 4-1 in the UFC instead of 2-3.

It's who he is.
To me Porier is similar when it comes to his title shots.
Chandler needs a win and should step back a bit.

 

[chinarice]

He doesn't believe in his technical skills enough for longer, drawn out fights.

He believes in his speed and power to get him quick wins.

He's just super reckless in there whenever the fight goes back and forth.

 

[Normot]

It didn't look like he could win the Gaethje fight. Couldn't take him down and his standup just isn't as good as Justins.
The Porier fight though... wtf. That loss is on him.

 

[2004 account]

Chandler is the ufcs dancing monkey, pay him to fight stupidly, entertain the crowd...if he wins then good, he can do some backflips for the crowd while they throw peanuts for him to eat.

 

[richardjohnson]

It didn't look like he could win the Gaethje fight. Couldn't take him down and his standup just isn't as good as Justins.
The Porier fight though... wtf. That loss is on him.

He got sub'd trying to wrestle a guy who was kicking his ass on the feet. He just got beat by the better fighter in my opinion.

 

[mister piscadinha]

like gaethje, he has temperature like fight IQ

if he fought smart and used his wrestling more he would be way better

 

[Safton]

This has always been Chandler's style. He leans heavily on his explosiveness to try and get a finish on the feet for the first round, maybe the first round and a half (unless he gets hurt) where he's most dangerous. Once he moves into the second round he steadily transitions to his wrestling/top game and what I call a "fight management mode".

 

[immyaxl]

I dont know if hes panicking in there, or that hes so married to this idea of being an all-action fighter, but I cant help but feel that hes giving wins away. The Poirier fight looked beyond winnable if he didnt spaz out from the get-go and emptied the gastank in round 1. He could probably have comfortably wrestlefucked Poirier if he commited to a disciplined gameplan.
Same with the Gaethje fight. Had he fought a somewhat smart fight he could have taken an important round and walked away with the victory.
The Oliveira fight is the only one I feel that he fought a good fight but simply got caught.

If he didn't go HAM every time he stepped in the cage he could currently be 4-1 in the UFC instead of 2-3.

He hasn't fought smart in years. I don't know what his paychecks look like these days but it seems like he believes fighting like this will lead to bigger paydays. He's well past his prime & that was the case before he came to the UFC. He wasn't even the best lightweight in Bellator anymore. I'm a Chandler fan but he hasn't used his full skill set in a long time. He's older, bad cardio & his chin is gone. anymore.

 

[immyaxl]

If that is the plan more power to him, but I think its such a waste when he obviously has the potential to hang with the elite of the division.

I think he semi-panicks and doesnt believe that he can win a measured fight so he wants to overwhelm. I remember a JRE podcast where he said that he struggled with confidence and has somewhat of an imposter syndrome thinking he doesnt belong

In his Prime he was as good as any Lightweight in the world. Those days are long gone though.

 

[electricfuneral]

mike has fallen in love with his power punches and I love it

 

[Tweak896]

Chandler is getting older every day. You guys realize he's a LW that is turning 37 next April? The only guys he's beat are Hooker and Tony, finishing both by KO, so that's pretty much his gameplan every fight. If he has to fight lower top 10 at LW he's going to lose. No idea why he's so high ranked.

 

[Mal Intentions]

people just have a false sense of how good he is. he is an explosive wrestler with hard punches. nothing more nothing less

 

[Steve Fox]

Chandler's fight IQ is questionable af but on the other hand he always brings it and his fights are always must watch.

 

[Prex32]

he could probably win more fights with takedowns holding em down and gnp

 

[HP_Nut]

He's an explosive guy, probably 1 of the most explosive in the division. I think his cardio isn't great so he always wants to go balls to the wall style blitzkrieg

 

[marvinparsons]

The other style that could possibly work for Chandler is Yoel's stall/conserve energy/occasionally explode with a superman punch of flying knee. But that's less effective in lighter weight classes where fighters are younger, faster and more active. You can get an occasional KO (like Ferguson or Hooker) but most guys will outpoint you easily.

He can win a fight against a guy like Poirier fighting like this. Do nothing the first round and hopefully win it. Wrestle the second round after doing nothing for a couple minutes. Do nothing for a few minutes of the 3rd then go HAM.

I think Chandler is dangerous enough to prevent people from peppering him with volume and could explode here and there rather than just going HAM 24/7.

At the end of the day this is how he wants to fight though.

I think it is probably a lot simpler mentally to go out there and go HAM/be entertaining than to try to stick to an elaborate and disciplined gameplan. He can rationalize it by saying that he wants to be entertaining.

Seems like a way to have a ready made excuse for losses (I want to entertain) and never reach your potential.

 

[mkt]

In his Prime he was as good as any Lightweight in the world. Those days are long gone though.

Eh, the two losses to Will Brooks make me seriously question that. He was very good, but still had his weaknesses.

 

[par6597]

fortunately (fortunately, because I can't stand him) he has low fight IQ and is too old and set in his ways to improve on that

 

[Legendary]

Yeah he easily could be the champ right now.