Michael Chandler came up short against Mauricio Ruffy at UFC White House, suffering a dominating first-round knockout defeat to the young Brazilian prospect, but he’s not going to let that keep him down.
In a long video posted on social media, the former Bellator lightweight champion gave props to Ruffy and provided a health update after the stoppage loss, his fourth in the UFC.
“Obviously, the fight did not go my way, but I’m in good spirits,” Chandler said. “I’m happy. I’m healthy. I’m hard to kill. I’m impossible to kill. I’m impossible to defeat because I am so truly blessed.”
“Physically, I’m good,” he continued. “I’m a little banged up. I got punched in the ear and ripped it open. Hats off to Mauricio Ruffy. He was a tough puzzle to solve, to get going in there. He’s long, he’s fast, he’s accurate, he’s a good striker. He landed the shots that ended the fight, so here we are. But as I said, we’re happy, we’re healthy, we’re hard to kill.”
Chandler now holds a record of 2-6 under the UFC banner, a contrast to his victorious run under the Bellator banner with only five defeats in 23 bouts. On a four-fight skid that includes defeats to Paddy Pimblett, Charles Oliveira, and Dustin Poirier, “Iron” did not mention the possibility of retirement. Instead, he vows to recalibrate and “bounce back with more wisdom.”
“You have these moments in life where everyone’s watching how you’re respond and I promise you, just as I always have, I will continue to respond like a champion,” Chandler said. “It stinks, because I know I prepared. I promise you I prepared to the best of my ability. Left no stone unturned in the preparation. I can rest easy knowing that I did every single thing that I possibly could in this training camp. My head coach, my sensei Henry, had me prepared. Coach Tywon Claxton had me prepared on the ground. Coach Robbie Lawler, coach Corey Peacock in the strength and conditioning. We were prepared. We just fell short. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
“And at some point you just got out call a spade a spade and just gotta say, this is what it is. We lost. You’re gonna take your losses in life. And hopefully, for you, you don’t take too many losses. But it’s not about taking the losses; it’s how you respond to the losses. If you can see every loss like it was an opportunity that was missed and there’s a recalibration and a recoiling of the spring that you can bounce back from, bounce back better, bounce back in a different way, bounce back with more wisdom, bounce back with more experience, you can continue to chase down the man or the woman that you were destined to be, and that’s why we’re out here.”
Chandler thanked the fans for all their support and said he will “move forward” and chase greatness in “typical Chandler fashion.”
“It’s time to get back on the horse,” Chandler said. “It’s time to continue to move forward as I always do. Typical Chandler fashion. All we do is move forward. In the face of adversity, we move forward. We walk on. In the face of letdown, we walk on. In the face of opposition, we walk on. Things don’t go our way, we continue to walk on. Because we are the man in the arena. And we’d much rather be that person who fails while daring greatly than being the person who’s sitting on the sidelines of life talking about the man or the woman who failed while daring greatly.”
“I love you guys,” he added. “I truly, truly love you guys. And I thank you guys for your support. The best is yet to come. The best is yet to come. Trust me. Keep on watching. Keep on getting after it. Keep on trying to operate with integrity and being a good person. Because your best days and your blessed days are right ahead of you if you can continue to do that. I love you guys. God bless. I’ll see you at the top.”
Watch the full video below.
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