Michael Chandler opens up after emphatic loss to Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314

Chandler was finished by ‘Paddy The Baddy’ to suffer his fifth loss in seven UFC fights

Michael Chandler has broken his silence after being brutally finished by Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314.

Chandler, 38, was beaten in dominant fashion by Scouse sensation Pimblett, who saw his stock skyrocket as he established himself as a top contender at lightweight.

Pimblett secured a third-round TKO after splitting open the former three-time Bellator champion with a vicious knee, leaving Chandler to slump out of the Octagon before Bruce Buffer even had time to raise the Briton’s arm. With that, Chandler succumbed to his fifth loss in seven UFC bouts.

The American has now spoken out for the first time since the defeat, taking to social media to stress that there are bigger things than what happens inside the cage.

“Never out of the fight,” Chandler wrote on X. “This picture sums it all up. As long as I’ve got these heartbeats and hands to hold, I’ve already won.”

The picture, taken by his wife Brie, showed Chandler holding the hand of his son, who was in attendance for the bout on Saturday night.

The father of three then returned home to spend time with his new daughter, who was born not long before he locked horns with Pimblett in Miami.

Chandler has not been victorious in the UFC since sleeping Tony Ferguson with a face-altering front kick in 2022, but has been constantly pitted against top contenders at 155lb – also coming out on the losing end against Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliviera twice since winning his promotional debut against Dan Hooker in 2021.

He spent two years out of the Octagon as he tried to finalise a potentially legacy-defining bout against Conor McGregor, only for the clash to fall through a fortnight before it was meant to go down last June, after the Irishman suffered a broken toe.

Chandler’s drop in results seems to have damaged his hopes of ever returning to the title picture in the UFC, with the fighter now nearing 40 and struggling to break his losing streak.

Pimblett, meanwhile, has stamped his mark on the division after years of being doubted, and is now in line for a top-five clash as he continues his pursuit of a title shot.