News Michael Chandler finally has a date. Dana confirmed. Jan 23.

FIghtxIQ said:
He's not bigger than Hooker. He has no size advantage over Hooker at all. This is a tough fight for Chandler, Hooker most likely TKOs Chandler with a knee or uppercut after Chandler has a hard time taking him down and keeping him down because of the size difference.
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I don't think it's fair to say that Hooker's advantage here only comes from his size. His size certainly plays a role, obviously. But he's also a stylistically bad fight for Chandler and has earned a spot near the top of the division. He's on a high, Chandler isn't, and I think the skill gap between UFC and Bellator will be exemplified by this fight.
 
Peli said:
My bad. Dana White is completely flawless.

iu
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Weak
 
usernamee said:
They were gonna try to get Do Bronx to take a somewhat short notice fight against fucking Chandler?

dafuq
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Lmao dude deserves khabib of the vacant shot.

Can't believe the title fight is going to be 2 people khabib destroyed not long ago.
 
NoBiasJustMMA said:
Chandler weighs over 180 in the cage, he's not a small 155er at all.
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he is short though and he is going to get knee'd in the face and probably TKO'd on his way in at some point in the 2nd round.

It'll be a hell of a 1st round though and wouldn't shock me if he won because he has huge power, I don't think its enough to finish Hooker though and he's gonna gas himself out trying to get a finish in the 1st.

I'd like to see Do Bronx vs Gaethje.

Poirer vs Conor can be for the belt, Khabib is done.
 
TerrorTimmy said:
I don't think it's fair to say that Hooker's advantage here only comes from his size. His size certainly plays a role, obviously. But he's also a stylistically bad fight for Chandler and has earned a spot near the top of the division. He's on a high, Chandler isn't, and I think the skill gap between UFC and Bellator will be exemplified by this fight.
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It's not his only advantage, but factoring Chandler's style compared to Hooker and analyzing their fighting styles and strengths/weaknesses Hooker is the favorite.

UFC picked Hooker to welcome Chandler for a reason. They might've felt the fight with Gaethje would've been close and Chandler could pull off an upset so they wanted to match him with Hooker or Olivera instead. Plus a bit lower in the rankings so if Chandler pulls it off there's still other fighters in the top 3 he can match up with after.

Chandler has earned his spot in another org, he's about to try and earn it in the UFC. UFC picked Hooker to fight him because they feel Hooker can beat him, it's UFC's welcome to ex Bellator fighter. They always give them tough match ups for their UFC debut for a reason.

I don't think Chandler can KO Hooker, or be able to keep him down if he is able to take him down. His size will factor in with Chandler's wrestling and takedowns, his hips are going to be higher and his legs are going to be longer than what he's used to. Plus Hooker has a great center knee down center line so if Chandler gets frustrated in the stand up or from not being able to get takedowns and goes for sloppy take down attempts he'll eat Hooker's knee or uppercut. Hooker has KO other fighters with that knee so it's something he's worked on and has good timing on it.

Chandler can still win, he has the skills to do so - but the odds favor Hooker winning this one.
 
Pakman said:
he is short though and he is going to get knee'd in the face and probably TKO'd on his way in at some point in the 2nd round.

It'll be a hell of a 1st round though and wouldn't shock me if he won because he has huge power, I don't think its enough to finish Hooker though and he's gonna gas himself out trying to get a finish in the 1st.

I'd like to see Do Bronx vs Gaethje.

Poirer vs Conor can be for the belt, Khabib is done.
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I don't know why everyone seems to think Chandler is going to gas, his cardio is better than Hooker and he's by far the best wrestler he's ever faced. Hooker's TDD looks good but it hasn't been tested by a real high level wrestler and Chandler can finish Hooker on the ground too, he doesn't have to win by decision or standing KO.
 
Dan's cardio is a weak point but if this fight is 3 rounds it won't really be a factor. Either Hooker wins by TKO or he wins 29-28.
 
NoBiasJustMMA said:
I don't know how much Hooker weighs in the cage but 180-183 in the cage is very big for LW and that is what Chandler weighs. Hooker's TDD looks above average but he's never really fought any high level wrestlers so his TDD is relatively untested. Chandler also has better cardio than Hooker.
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Hooker is a big lightweight, and was fighting at welterweight before. Hooker is the bigger fighter in height and size.

Going to be hard to compare Chandler's Bellator conditioning with his UFC conditioning because USADA has stricter testing. We'll see if he physically looks the same and if he is able to perform at the same level of conditioning in UFC and USADA.

I still feel Hooker's size will give Chandler problems with takedowns and control. Hooker's hips will be higher, and his legs are longer. Chandler hasn't really wrestled with someone of Hooker's size in any of his fights. So we'll see if he can adjust to Hooker's size and be able to use a wrestling heavy game plan.
 
FIghtxIQ said:
Hooker is a big lightweight, and was fighting at welterweight before. Hooker is the bigger fighter in height and size.

Going to be hard to compare Chandler's Bellator conditioning with his UFC conditioning because USADA has stricter testing. We'll see if he physically looks the same and if he is able to perform at the same level of conditioning in UFC and USADA.
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Hooker has not fought at Welterweight before. Chandler started as a WW and dropped to LW. Hooker fought at LW then FW then back to LW. Alvarez is just as ripped at Chandler is and his performance wasn't impacted by USADA.

I don't know if Hooker is bigger in actual weight, he's a lot taller but Chandler weighs like 180-183 in the cage and that's very heavy for LW(Tibau was that size).
 
Daelh said:
At 5"8 he's pretty small compared to Khabib, Do Bronx, Hooker, Gaethje and Tony.
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Khabib fought Poirier at 171 on fight night and looked higher body fat than Chandler looks at 180. The myth about Khabib being some 280lb kebabcel are false. Yes he loves kebabs and is a bit of a fatty compared to say a Ferguson and struggles losing weight but actual evidence suggests he’s no more of a weight bully than his competition. Body fat estimate at the same weight is the best measure aside from a dexa scan.

And no I’m not one of those morons who thinks Khabib didn’t arm bar in round 2 vs Gaethje because of his parents.
 
NoBiasJustMMA said:
Hooker has not fought at Welterweight before. Chandler started as a WW and dropped to LW. Hooker fought at LW then FW then back to LW. Alvarez is just as ripped at Chandler is and his performance wasn't impacted by USADA.

I don't know if Hooker is bigger in actual weight, he's a lot taller but Chandler weighs like 180-183 in the cage and that's very heavy for LW(Tibau was that size).
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You are right, the page I was looking at had the wrong weight and it was when Gilbert Burns was fighting in lightweight. Still Hooker has the size to fight at Welterweight, he's easily one of the biggest lightweights. The size difference was obvious in his fight vs Poirer. He looked significantly bigger than Poirer, and Poirer isn't really a small lightweight compared to other lightweights.

He fought as a welterweight, middleweight, and heavy weight in kickboxing prior to UFC via Wiki.

Alvarez looked different once in UFC, he wasn't as shredded and skin didn't look as thin.

Most lightweights are around that weight or more. Khabib is supposed to be around 190-200 lbs walk around weight before starting to cut. That's from his team mates talking about his weight.
 
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FIghtxIQ said:
You are right, the page I was looking at had the wrong weight and it was when Gilbert Burns was fighting in lightweight. Still Hooker has the size to fight at Welterweight, he's easily one of the biggest lightweights. The size difference was obvious in his fight vs Poirer. He looked significantly bigger than Poirer, and Poirer isn't really a small lightweight compared to other lightweights.

He fought as a welterweight, middleweight, and heavy weight in kickboxing prior to UFC via Wiki.

Alvarez looked different once in UFC, he wasn't as shredded and skin didn't look as thin.

Most lightweights are around that weight or more. Khabib is supposed to be around 190-200 lbs walk around weight before starting to cut. That's from his team mates talking about his weight.
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Khabib is not close to that heavy anymore and hasn't been for years, he's like 175ish before cutting weight. He's actually smaller than Chandler, though a few inches taller. Most LWs are not 190-200 in the cage, that's WWs that are that size. 180-185 in the cage is about as big as LWs get.

Like I said Tibau weighed about that in his prime and Chandler does as well. Alvarez didn't look any less ripped in the UFC to me. If anyone knows how much Hooker actually weighs while fighting at LW I would like to hear it, he's very tall for the division but it's hard to imaging him being much more than 180-185 at LW.
 
Mga223 said:
Lmao dude deserves khabib of the vacant shot.

Can't believe the title fight is going to be 2 people khabib destroyed not long ago.
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Just illustrates the degree of levels Khabib was above the rest of 155.
 
Hooker beats pretty much everyone not named Conor is a 3 rounder.

Looking forward to seeing how chandler's wrestling holds up against hooker cos I don't see him wanting to stand up to much with the hangman
 
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