Boxing legend Paulie Malignaggi thinks the UFC ought to compensate Michael Chandler for the final two years he sat on the sidelines ready for a battle that was by no means going to occur.
At 38 years previous, Chandler’s window to compete on the highest degree is closing shortly. Sadly, the previous Bellator champion spent the last couple of years banking on a fight with Irish megastar Conor McGregor. The 2 superstars coached reverse each other on The Final Fighter final yr, but it surely was nearly a yr earlier than they had been lastly booked to headline an occasion in Las Vegas.
Sadly, their UFC 303 scrap by no means got here to fruition after McGregor bowed out of the bout weeks away from battle night time on account of, of all issues, a broken pinky toe.
Pissed off, Chandler lastly determined to maneuver on, booking a rematch with former UFC lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 in Madison Sq. Backyard. And whereas ‘Iron’ is hopeful that his long-awaited battle with ‘Mystic Mac’ will nonetheless occur, there are those that assume the UFC ought to pay him for on a regular basis he spent sitting round as an alternative of benefiting from his twilight years within the battle recreation.
“I’d love for Chandler to be financially rewarded for ready however I doubt it,” Malignaggi stated in a current interview with CanadaCasino.ca. “Who’s going to reward him? The UFC is run by probably the most egocentric individuals. They underpay the fighters who battle — think about how they deal with the fighters who don’t. He must be compensated, however I’m undecided how they’d deal with that. I believe he deserves it, however he’s been ready on the sidelines for this battle, and it’s simply not going to occur for him.
“I really feel for Chandler. Preventing is a tricky approach to make a residing. It’s not straightforward. You get broken, your finest years go by, and you’ll’t return to succeed in the degrees you need. Whenever you get to the purpose the place your finest years are behind you, you’d hope for a giant payday to make the remainder of your life extra snug. This battle is widespread in fight sports activities” (h/t MMA News).
Michael Chandler locations the blame on his shoulders
Whereas Malignaggi actually makes a degree, Michael Chandler has repeatedly accepted accountability for his actions, noting that at any time he might have known as up the UFC and requested for a battle as an alternative of holding out for his ‘pink panty night time’ in opposition to McGregor.
“No [there’s no more ill-will for McGregor],” Chandler told MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin. “Not any greater than I had at the start. I don’t blame him for something, I actually don’t. The outsiders can look and say, ‘Man, he should hate Conor. Conor did this to him, Conor did that to him, the UFC did this to him.’ I did all this to myself.”
With McGregor nonetheless contracted for 2 extra fights contained in the Octagon, right here’s to hoping that Chandler will nonetheless get the prospect to money a multi-million greenback test in opposition to the Irishman earlier than wrapping up his combined martial arts profession.
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