UFC star Michael Chandler was set to fight Conor McGregor in UFC 303 and amid all the chaos with the press conference and the McGregor pulling out, there is another problem that arose for Chandler. This time it was a bit personal and involved his family. The 38-year-old lightweight fighter has two children with his wife Brie Willet and both children are adopted. While ‘Iron’ is very active on social media he never previously shared his family details over the platform.
He got married 10 years ago to his wife but little was known of their life. Yet, recently a lot of intriguing details were revealed. Hence without further ado, let’s dive into his family life and how he loves his children.
How many kids did Michael Chandler adopt?
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Michael Chandler and his wife Brie Willet decided to adopt children and they have two sons; seven-year-old Hap Chandler and two-year-old Ace Chandler. He had previously revealed how his wife had always wanted to adopt a baby. Willet’s earlier experiences with orphan children were the main motivation for her to take this step. Chandler had narrated, “For us, once we got through all the paperwork, and the background checks, and the criminal background checks, and the financial background checks, and the medical background checks and all the fingerprinting…once we finally got all that done, we got an email that said, ‘Congratulations, you’re now active’ — and then six minutes later, we got a phone call.”
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’Iron’ revealed previously that he wanted the baby to be 6 months old but his son was 9 months old. However, he graciously accepted God’s blessing and uploaded a picture with his son and wife. They met the birth mother and connected with her. Interestingly both their children are Black and recently he received a lot of backlash for commenting ‘not raising Black children’. But why?
Chandler stood by his comment and spoke about it in an interview with Shawn Ryan. He said, “Whether you are Black or you are white, no matter what race that you are, there are certain things about being a man and being a good man when it comes to character and integrity and safeguarding the helpless and sticking up for those who need it.”
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However, he retaliated to the backlash in The Pivot podcast saying that one little phrase was clipped from his whole discussion. The ‘Iron’ wanted to convey that they were not raising their children on the grounds of skin color or other characteristics but on the virtues of being a good human. He also expressed that he planned on discussing the aspects of heritage and race when the pair were older. Another thing that fans were curious was about why they adopted children.
Why doesn’t Michael Chandler have biological children?
Chandler said in the podcast that his wife always wanted to adopt children. He said, “My wife has wanted to adopt an African-American boy since she was a teenager. My wife has had that on her heart since she was a teenager.” He also narrated how she used to do inner-city mission work and go to Jamaica on mission trips with her father.
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Brie Willet also said that when she married a good man, she would like to adopt a baby. The couple welcomed their first baby in 2017 before adopting their second son in 2022. For the ‘Iron’, being a person of good character is the most important and that is what he teaches his children.
Chandler is truly an amazing fighter and a father. He is teaching his children the best possible way and let’s see maybe they will continue their dad and mom’s legacy!