Michael Chandler Breaks Down and Ranks the 10 Top UFC Lightweights

what's up guys michael chandler here and we're about to do a breakdown of the ufc lightweight division number 10 kevin lee so when i think kevin lee i think athlete hard knows um he's got some great finishes via knockout great finishes via submission um but he's somewhat been spotted he's been been up he's been down he's lost to some guys that he shouldn't lost to but he's also had some some breakout performances even even if he wasn't as skilled with the wrestling as he is he's going to be tough to be taken down he's going to be able to overpower guys and get those takedowns he mixes things up well so that's definitely a strength and i think he's a he's a tough competitor overall very solid competitor number nine ally aquinta aye quinta some people say aye aye quinta either way he's the real estate agent from uh from new york al and i share the same manager so we've i've helped him train for fights he's helped me train for fights i think he has probably the best jab in the division and that's be coming from personal experience both watching him watching his fights the way he uses the jab to set up set up the big the big two right after it the way he controls the distance with with the jab um as well as feeling it when i have sparred with him he's the kind of guy you're gonna have to knock him unconscious to to get him out of there um so you really gotta stay stay focused be basic put it on them quick and keep the gas pedal firmly down on the way to the victory number eight diego fejera diego fejeras is not a guy that i've spent a lot of time watching to be honest with you you know not known as a guy who's got who's got great knockout power or a guy who's going to catch you he just wants to kind of plot forward come forward get his hands on you and kind of make it an ugly fight he's always going to be planting seeds of doubt in his opponent making sure that he doesn't get the takedown brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt that's his strength i think i match up great against diego fejera i would be able to stop the takedown with my wrestling i would be able to put a pressure on him a basic striking clinic pressure on him back him up make him second-guess himself and uh get to finish in the second round number seven paul felder the irish dragon a a true veteran of the sport a true respectable guy honorable guy in the sport the guy's mind for the sport as we have seen on his cage side commentary he really knows a lot about the sport high fight iq paul felder has got really great crisp muay thai kickboxing you know obviously when you're a striking heavy guy you focus so much so much time on your striking that you're you're wrestling someone gets gets neglected he does have i would say the edge in the striking i think my wrestling is is better than his striking is and i think i match up really well against a guy like paul felder because i think my my striking is my striking defense is good enough to be able to thwart his offense he's a tough guy to finish i would obviously always be looking for the finish but i would think that would be a a pretty one-sided unanimous decision number six charles oliveira charles oliveira is on a seven-fight win streak been somewhat of a a mainstay in the ufc your biggest fear when you're fighting a guy like charles oliveira that first round when you're not sweaty when he can sink in a guillotine if he takes your back you're going to be hard-pressed to be able to get him off you he can turn into a backpack for five minutes pretty quick so do not let him get your back and as we saw in in his last fight his last outing is kevin lee his striking is starting to get better you know and once a guy gets confidence in his hands that makes him somewhat of a very dangerous guy but um weakness is still going to be his striking as well as cardio and ability to make weight you know to me i always look at the the discipline and the character of a man if you're a guy who misses weight numerous times you're also a guy who's going to give up on yourself in a fight so that's what i would do i would take him to the deep waters and make him give up on himself number five dan hooker tall guy long guy big time knees long arms so long elbows he mixes it up really well uh dan hooker's the kind of guy you want to pick up pick him up put him down put him on the ground in his last outing a loss against dustin poirier albeit uh had some really great moments in that fight pressing the action putting together combinations hitting poirier with knees i would question his power because i don't think he hurt poirier like we saw conor hurt poirier like we saw michael johnson hurt poirier knock him out um so i question his power and i would be really interested to see how he reacts when he's on his back you know first round pick him up put him down wear him down make him second guess himself make him get into wrestling scrambles don't just let him lay on his back really play to the cardio of the guy um pull on him hang on him uh and then the second and third round start to put it harder onto him on the feet and look for the knockout in the later rounds he's a tough new zealander so he's definitely one of the dark horses of the division and a tough guy to beat number four conor mcgregor you know when when you break down conor mcgregor you've got to think about you know the left hand and the spins and you got to think about the technique but you also have to break down the man himself the mind games the mental warfare you know he's somewhat of an enigma but what we do know is he's great at mental warfare he's great at saying things he's great at getting on her opponent's skin and he's the biggest most polarizing name in the sport by far you know possibly in the history of combat sport standing across the cage from conor mcgregor it has to be as it has to be a different experience than anybody expects i know i came into the ufc at the right time ready for the biggest stage the biggest stakes the biggest hype the biggest moments so i think standing across the cage from conor mcgregor uh is something i've visualized now for the last six eight years he'd have to kill me to get me out of that cage almost got my knee broken in half i've almost gotten choked out completely in fights i just don't tap i'd rather i'd rather let my legs snap or let myself go unconscious than give up on myself in front of millions of people that plays perfectly into my hand with a guy like conor mcgregor there comes a moment in that fight where he chooses to either fight through something or give up and tap and he always does he always taps number three tony ferguson tony ferguson the wild man of the division the boogeyman i think to me the scariest guy of the division he's just so unorthodox he's the hardest guy on the board to prepare for just imagine being in a real live contest a real life fight with somebody it's a serious interaction it's a serious thing you're competing for your family's food on their table you're competing for your legacy you're competing for your world ranking you're competing for the money in your bank account and a guy just grabbed fake sand and threw it in your face you know it's it's almost elementary it's almost so off the wall fans love to watch him fight because they don't know what he's going to do inside the cage he's a winner he wins fights he wears guys down i've always said i think tony ferguson would be a perfect introduction to who michael chandler is to the ufc fans i can match his cardio i i can match his strength he's a guy who gets taken down and he's good in good in scramble scenarios but i'm also i think better in scramble scenarios so i think i match up better than him in all aspects of mixed martial arts especially the fact that he's there to be hit if i put my hands on them i i think i can be the first guy to really separation separate them from consciousness and knock him out cold tony ferguson i respect his body of work i respect the the uh uncertainty and the unfamiliarity of his style that he brings to the cage number two dustin poirier dustin poirier um i think he's one of the most skilled guys in the lightweight division he's got power in his hands we've seen him finish guys with his hands got a good chin he's able to able to beat in those wars so he's always going to be there for five rounds if he needs to be uh a fight with poirier excites me because it's a fight that scares me he's he's good everywhere dustin poury is about the most well-rounded guy in the division you know i think dustin poirier is also one of the most respectable guys uh what he does outside the cage for his community with the good fight foundation giving back any time he's on the mic he's respectful even even when he turned down the fight against me he did it in a respectable fashion you ask any of these guys in the top 10 if they respect dustin poirier most definitely it's an emphatic yes as far as weaknesses go um he's not the best wrestler he he would get taken down by a decent wrestler i would in typical michael fashion bite down my mouthpiece come across the octagon get in his face right away he's going to be the guy who's going to volume punch more and try to wear me down i'm going to be the guy who's looking for bigger shots hurting him hurting him early uh like a michael johnson did like conor did haven't seen a lot of guys who who make dustin poryu scramble and wrestle a lot you saw with khabib khabib was able to take him down hold him down tory is a hard guy to finish if i don't catch him with a big shot and knock him out um i would go for look for a submission later in the third fourth fifth round number one justin gaijin you know it's really cool to actually be holding up the justin gaichy card at number one you know just a couple years ago the no name kid from the no name organization world series of fighting who was i think 16 17-0 and everyone was interested in seeing how he would do in the biggest competition you know similar to myself how would michael chandler do coming over from bellator justin gates is just the guy who puts it on guys so much that they end up giving up there's going to be moments where you feel like you're knocking him out and he's about to go down and then 30 seconds later he's doing the exact same thing to you and you're questioning whether you're going to get finished justin gaetje his number one strength is his cardio and his chin the way he hurts people with his legs the way he's just taking damage covering up and then leg kicking you while you're in the pocket we have seen him get in firefights where he has you know lost his footing and gotten knocked out got knocked out by eddie got knocked out by poirier i think he has a great chin but i would put it as a weakness because we know he's going to get into a firefight and he's eventually going to get caught on the chin i would also um go to the body like eddie did you know i think the first there was the first time we ever saw gaichi on the ground was when khabib took him down um and we also saw i think it zapped his cardio pretty quickly did a really good job of just walking gaithy down and putting gaichi surprising geichi geichi was not ready to be walked down by by a consummate grappler every moment that justin giechi isn't in a fire fight and he's on his back or he's in turtle or he's or he's in half guard or he's on the ground is an is a moment that you are taking him out of his element his element is feeling alive and feeling those endorphins and feeling that the rush and the thrill of a fight so i think you zap that from me you take that from it you snatch that from him i would love to knock him out in the fourth and fifth round after a fight of the year candidate collect a couple bonuses and then uh win the ufc lightweight title justin you so currently right now this is how the ufc has the top 10 of the lightweight division now i'm going to rearrange them as far as my personal picks of who i would love to fight first my my fantasy matchups if you will number one would still be probably justin gaichi i think justin gaichi is number one the highest ranked guy number two the human highlight um because for me this is all about as i said it's not just enough for me to put on the ufc gloves and weigh in i didn't sign with ufc to weigh in i want to i want to show up prove to the ufc fans who michael chandler is right away um one change i would make just for business reasons you gotta put conor mcgregor as number two he is the biggest fight in the division he's the biggest fight in the ufc i also think just from a stylistic match up a stylistic standpoint he's a guy that i've wanted to fight for years it's your it's your perfect typical striker versus wrestler matchup making this switch i think i would keep this here dustin poirier then would be probably being my number three my number three choice from a stylistic standpoint um as well as a guy who's ranked the highest as well i would keep ferguson at number four and then number five would be dan hooker who i think i match up really well against this is one through ten of my uh preference of who i would like to fight number one would have to be justin gaichi it'll be fight of the year candidate we'll collect some bonuses and i'll collect another knockout on my record all right so then uh here's the tough question that being said where do you rank yourself amongst this see that's hard because i think i honestly think i can beat any of them but it's i think in my humble opinion that on any given night i beat any of these guys the skill set that i bring to the table i can beat any of these guys on any given night in a multitude of fashions but justin gaichi came in and fought number five right away michael johnson if justin gets you need some time off and if conor and poirier are booked right now that four or five rank i'd say give me tony ferguson right away i think it's i think it says hey you're not going to come in and get a title shot right away but you're good enough to be fight someone in the top five i think the ufc has proven that or at least proven that that is their their motto that they're thinking they think i i deserve to be in this top five right away maybe i do maybe i don't all i know is i can't wait to get that octagon [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: MMA On Point

Views: 612,636

Keywords: UFC, MMA, MMA On Point, Mixed Martial Arts, Bellator, Dana White, Joe Rogan, JRE, Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, Khabib, Habib, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, WWE, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, Dan Hooker, Charles Olivieira, Diego Ferreira, Al Iaquinta, Kevin Lee

Id: LcaF2V2yisk

Length: 13min 29sec (809 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 01 2020