Do you really think so? Too me he seems like he has not, I really had hopes for him and that he would improve but he just seems to be stale in his growth. He has ok, skills on the ground and I think he only does ok for striking due to his size in the division. He definitely needs a good boxing coach.
Yeah, the only impressive thing Chandler did vs. Oliveira was surviving 5 rounds, including quite a bit of time on the ground. But he knew how big of a submission threat there was against Charles. He definitely could get caught against Paddy just like he did against Poirier.
Chandler looked great in every fight he had in the ufc, other than that one.
He seems smarter. Moves a bit better and more tactically, defends better and doesn't allow stupid punches to land because of carelessness.
I think that is a great way look at it. His fight IQ is improving and he is not being as reckless. Now he just needs to work on his standup.
I agree Chandler looked good in his other fights, but did show signs of decline. He's shown poor Fight IQ at some point in all of his losses, and didn't look good in R1 vs. Ferguson. In fact, that may be the only round Ferguson has won since Gaethje took his soul, unless Tony won a round against Nate Diaz (can't remember).
It's a classic "old but still dangerous" guy who would've won in his prime vs. a younger, not fully proven fighter who most likely wins if it goes the distance.
