Michael Chandler Predicts How Many Rounds It Will Take Him to Finish Justin Gaethje

New UFC sensation and former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler is gearing up for his fight against former UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. The dynamic strikers are scheduled for a collision at UFC 268 on November 06 this year.

Recently, ‘Iron’ did a Q/A session on Twitter. The former Bellator, Chandler answered many questions thrown at him by the fight fans. When one fan asked him in how many rounds he would stop ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje, ‘Iron’ had a very specific answer to it. He retweeted and replied, “Second”.

Second

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) August 25, 2021

While Chandler is confident of his win, it is far more difficult to put away a dangerous fighter like Gaethje. ‘The Highlight’ is counted amongst the Fiercest fighters to ever lay a foot inside the octagon. We could assess his fighting pedigree by the fact that he has incurred only three losses in his entire career of 25 matches.

He last fought against the now-retired lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, at UFC 254. He lost that fight via submission. Even though that loss was a costly one as it was for the gold, he wouldn’t have felt embarrassed as it came against the man who had conquered 28 other fighters before him. Prior to that, he produced a masterclass of striking against one of the best UFC lightweights in Tony Ferguson.

Meanwhile, Chandler will enter his fight against Gaethje on the back of a titular loss at UFC 262. He initially had an upper hand against Charles Oliveira but the latter overcame it to win via TKO in round 2. Prior to that, ‘Iron’ had an impressive debut as he defeated Dan Hooker via KO/TKO at UFC 257.

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Can the winner between Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje fight for the title?

Former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier is the front runner to fight Oliveira next. ‘The Diamond’ recently defeated ‘The Notorious’ one after the latter snapped his leg at UFC 264. With the championship battle almost set, the question now arises: what’s next after that?

Both Chandler and Gaethje are in the upper echelons of the rankings. Their clash could provide the next challenger for the undisputed gold. Either of them being involved in the titular fight could bring in big numbers. But there is a problem here.

Both are coming on the back of a titular loss in their last fight. So, one may feel it wouldn’t be nice to put them right on track after one win. However, fans have to realize and see what other options are there.

Most other fighters need at least one or two more wins under their belt to challenge the gold. Thus, the UFC may fall back to these two gladiators to fight in an eliminator.

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No matter who fights for the gold, this matchup between Gaethje and Chandler can be the highlight of the year. A second-round finish won’t do justice to this iconic matchup.

Do you agree with Chandler’s prediction?

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