Now that UFC lightweight star Michael Chandler is done waiting for Conor McGregor, he is gearing up for his fight against former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. But what’s next for Iron if he wins the scheduled bout against Do Bronx? Well, Chandler has recently revealed his decision to pursue a fight against Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title. He also claimed that he would be the champion by next year.

The UFC lightweight champion earlier refused to cater to Chandler’s wish, as he called him unreliable because of his fixation with Conor McGregor. However, Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez believes that the fight could take place. Not just that, Makhachev will also happily accept the fight against Chandler if he manages to win against Oliveira. So what did Mendez exactly say?

Well, in an interview with Submission Radio, Coach Mendez claimed that pitting the 3 time Bellator lightweight champion against the Dagestani champion would prove a grand occasion. He believes that Iron is an exciting fighter to go against and could pose an intriguing stylistic matchup for Makhachev. Mendez claimed that he has a great attitude and has never gone one-on-one against the Russians. Michael Chandler had outlined his intentions of facing Khabib Nurmagomedov in his heyday but the former lightweight king’s retirement meant that fight wouldn’t transpire.

He said, “Oh, I love that, I love that. Michael Chandler is, you know, he wants to put his name in the hat, and I like his attitude; I like what he’s doing. And I think that he’s correct. If he gets a win, that’s good excitement. Islam has never faced him, so that would be a great fight for Islam to want to get charged up. You know, first, we’ve got Tsarukyan, obviously, because that’s who’s next. And then after that, it would be great if Chandler can get a win. That would be fantastic.”

Mendez further added that even the Russians would want the fight since fighting the same opponents time and again can prove to be monotonous. “You know, Islam would get jazzed up about fighting somebody new. I mean, that’s what you hear Islam say it all the time—he wants to fight somebody new. So, I get it. You know, I wouldn’t want to fight the same guy either.” However, for now, Michael Chandler will have to focus on his fight against Oliveira before setting sights on the title. And it surely won’t prove a straightforward path.

Michael Chandler to tread a familiar path but hopes for a different result to attain a title shot against Islam Makhachev

The first time the two faced each other in 2021 marked the second UFC outing for Chandler. The American debuted earlier in the year with a resounding first-round knockout of Dan Hooker in Abu Dhabi. Although the decision to grant him a title shot caused debate, Iron was about to be crowned champion in the first round of the main event of UFC 262. But miraculously “Do Bronx” managed to survive a first-round flurry. The tides changed in the subsequent round as he landed a fight-changing left hook and knocked Chandler down within seconds of the second round. Thus, setting up a memorable TKO finish and securing championship glory.

Since then, Charles Oliveira has fallen from the throne after Islam Makhachev took up the mantle. Most recently, the former champion failed in his bid to become the number one contender by a narrow margin against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300 last April. Chandler, meanwhile, has only raised his hand once since then. He brutally knocked out Tony Ferguson in 2022. Aside from that, the 38-year-old has suffered losses to Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier. With his submission loss to the latter in November 2022, marking his last walk to the cage. So it surely is a must-win match against Oliveira in order to face Makhachev. What do you think? Will Chandler be able to pull it off? Let us know in the comments.