“We aren’t even close to being done,” Michael Chandler recently said after losing his bout to Charles Oliveira. But ‘Iron’ lost more than just the fight at UFC 309. Some of his questionable tactics have vilified him among the fanbase. Regardless, the Missouri native remains steadfast in his journey to the top and decided to address those concerns on social media.

Even though he lost to the former lightweight champion, Chandler is positive about his future. He shut down everyone who accused him of cheating by using back-of-the-head strikes against Oliveira. ‘Iron’ posted recently on Instagram about his positive stance. He wrote, “Head up, smile on, heart full in the face of whatever comes our way. Many aspects of a fight can be debated about and replayed ad nauseam, but one thing that will never be up for debate is that we prepared to the best of our abilities with zero wavering or concessions. Hats off the Charles, he was the better man on fight night. Thank you to the team I prepared with and walked into battle with. Walk On.”

He is looking forward to the other fights he will get in UFC even though he is running on a 2-fight-losing streak. John McCarthy even pointed out that Chandler’s career might start resembling Tony Ferguson’s who after winning 12 straight fights, has now lost eight in a row. At 38, that’s not a bad assessment of the former Bellator champion’s future.

“Michael Chandler has hit Tony Ferguson status – just being honest … absolutely,” McCarthy said on his “Weighing-In” podcast. “Who’s he going to beat? He looked slow. You cannot look slow in the lightweight division. You’re going to die, and he got outwrestled by a jiu-jitsu guy.” Meanwhile, Chandler is already planning for his future fights and even named two fighters he would like to fight.

Michael Chandler has set his future path

Michael Chandler lost to  Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 but he delivered an entertaining bout with hilarious smashes. But what now? During his appearance on Bussin’ With The Boys, he said that “Chandler vs anybody is a thumbs-up for the UFC right now.”  Chandler is still open to fighting McGregor and many think that this might happen in late 2025.

He also wants to go up against Max Holloway and called the latter out in the post-fight interview. The UFC lightweight stalwart said, “Max Holloway for the BMF belt, you know, I mean, I don’t know what my ranking is now. Probably 7-ish or whatever, and he’s number 5, because he beat Gaethje, you know. So like, you got two guys at the top 10, BMF belt, 155.”

This interest of Chandler’s has been scrutinized heavily by Dan Hooker, who believes the BMF fight is something the fans decide and not fighters call for. Besides, the Kiwi has a loss against Chandler, and a higher ranking spot to gamble, in case he fancies a rematch with ‘Iron.’ So make that two lucrative options for the TUF 31 coach.

Along with that, Michael Chandler is ready to take on Justin Gaethje as well after losing in their previous fight at UFC 268. But ‘the Highlight’ only wants to fight guys ranked above him. So who do you think will be Chandler’s next opponent?