Michael Chandler accepted short-notice fight against mystery lightweight contender at UFC 258

Lightweight contender Michael Chandler has revealed he accepted a short-notice fight at UFC 258, only to have his mystery opponent pull out. 

The former Bellator champion, who made a scintillating debut in the UFC 257 co-main event by knocking out Dan Hooker, accepted his next challenge during a steak dinner. 

He told Ariel Helwani on ESPN: ‘I said yes to an opportunity. They said, “Would you be willing to fight in the next couple of weeks?” There’s a big pay-per-view coming up, I said yes to it. 

Michael Chandler said he accepted a fight at UFC 258 on short notice but it will not go ahead

Chandler demolished Dan Hooker on a remarkable debut at UFC 257 last month 

‘I didn’t have any names being thrown around necessarily but I knew by process of elimination that it would be somebody ranked ahead of me. 

‘It’s now not happening. I had a 24oz bone-in rib-eye steak, sitting in front of me at Kanye Prime Steakhouse, my favourite place to eat on Earth. I stopped eating it then and there, I was then on a plane to Florida, landed in Florida 48 hours later because I said yes to the opportunity. I was going to train there for the next eight days and then hop on a flight to Las Vegas. 

He went on: ‘This opportunity did not come to fruition based on the other person saying no but I said yes, I’m trying to get some clarity in this lightweight division. I’m trying to strike while the iron is hot. 

‘This UFC lightweight division needs a fresh mix up, fresh face, fresh leader and I’m right here to put myself on the leaderboard. 

‘I was asked, “Would you be willing to fight on February 13th?” Without hesitation I said yes.’

When asked who the opponent was. He said: ‘I mean, I know by process of elimination who they were probably talking about.’ 

Charles Oliveira (left) is one of the possible opponents who the fight could have been against

Justin Gaethje is another potential match-up against Chandler in his next fight 

He was then asked: ‘Justin Gaethje or Charles Oliveira?’ Chandler responded: ‘I don’t know, the UFC is a big organisation and there’s not many lightweights ranked ahead of me so we’ll leave it at that.’  

Chandler is ranked No 4 in the division after his blistering debut last month. Ahead of him is champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is retired, Dustin Poirier, who just beat Conor McGregor, and then Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira. 

All signs point to the failed bout being against one of those two men, who are likely to have to fight once more before the winner can challenge for the lightweight title.