UFC 309 Preview: Charles Oliveira vs Michael Chandler

After his dreams of a fight with Conor McGregor were put on hold, ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler signed a contract to fight the man who denied his dream of UFC gold three years ago, Charles Oliveira. 

Maybe it is serendipity that Chandler will be fighting the same week as his ‘nicknamesake’ ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, though maybe not in a good way as Tyson is 58-years-old boxing a younger man. 

Chandler himself is no spring chicken. He entered the UFC at age 34, is now 37, and has not fought in two years since losing to Dustin Poirier.

Though Mike is respected as a veteran who puts on exciting fights and a former Bellator champion/legend, he is also 2-3 with the UFC. To keep both of his dreams alive, especially the dream of being a UFC champion, he has to beat Charles Oliveira.

In some ways Chandler is lucky to get to fight the #2 contender right now, but Charles himself has never been choosy about his opponents. 

Despite the fact that Chandler almost finished him last time they fought, Oliveira is willing to put everything on the line. There is a lot of confidence he can draw from their first fight, of course.

— Underrated Combat Sports Tribal Chief (@MMAUnderrated) November 13, 2024

Chandler's habits have not changed, ever. He always keeps his hands low and bolts in with big shots, or big feints into powerful takedowns. 

The problem is that Oliveira is the most dangerous submission artist the sport has ever seen and has proven able to out-grapple the American former collegiate wrestler. 

Chandler's power may be second to none in lightweight history, but his flaws are still too great. ‘Do Bronx’ can use his long Muay Thai kicking attacks to keep distance and chip away at his gas tank, plus has already proven he can both take the back of Michael and put him on his butt with a single, perfect punch. 

Charles catches Chandler with the left hook:
Arman has been caught both coming and and backing up and was famously hurt by Neto BJJ with a huge left hand. Oliveira's left hook is one of his best weapons on the feet and he can use it for checking and to leap into range. pic.twitter.com/fArBxp54r0

— Feño 🏴 (@fenoxsky) April 9, 2024

That left hook from Oliveira which made him a legend forever is absolutely replicable; Chandler has only been submitted once, but it was in his last fight.

Whatever the method may be, it feels likely that Chandler does not win this fight if it gets out of the first round, so Oliveira is the obvious pick.