The UFC 314 co-main event features an intriguing lightweight match between No. 7 ranked Michael Chandler and No. 12 ranked Paddy Pimblett.
Chandler will enter the fight coming off back-to-back losses and having lost four of his last five fights. Those four losses were to former interim titleholders or undisputed champions: Charles Oliveira (twice), Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. The former three-time Bellator lightweight champion has more experience than Pimblett and has been in higher profile fights.
Despite Chandler’s experience advantage and knockout prowess, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker went with the Englishman to win on Saturday.
“I definitely think Paddy can win. I think he has a path to victory,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade Podcast. “I don’t know if Paddy has ever come across a guy that is as explosive and as athletic as Michael Chandler.
“What keeps flashing back to me is Michael Chandler vs. [Dan] Hooker,” Whittaker continued. “And Hooker is so hard to put away, but the explosiveness, to close that gap. And to be fair, when Michael Chandler explodes like that, he creates problems for everyone. Even though he lost those last two fights, he created problems for Poirier in that first round, big problems. He created problems Charles in the last round.”
Related: Paddy Pimblett trashes Arman Tsarukyan
When Whittaker plays the fight out in his mind, he sees Pimblett rising to the occasion and picking up the biggest win of his career.
“This is the feeling Michael Chandler has given me the last few years. He is so promising. He is so dangerous and strong and really looks like he’s about to put the guys he’s fighting away but then something happens and he gasses. He gets tired and he either gets submitted or gets finished,” Whittaker said.
“I reckon Chandler’s going to come out really hot and heavy. He’s going to come out hard and fast like he always does. He’ll slowly fade. I expect Paddy to start beating him with volume. If Chandler goes for a lazy takedown, Paddy, his submission game is super underrated. That’s how I feel about the fight. I’ve got Paddy winning.”
