WATCH: Former SEC standout Michael Chandler scores knockout of the year at UFC 274
Want to make your case for a UFC title shot? All you have to do is knockout one of the greatest lightweight mixed martial artists of all time. That’s exactly what former Missouri All-American Michael Chandler did to Tony Ferguson during their fight at UFC 274 Saturday night.
Chandler’s stiff right leg kick landed squarely on the former UFC Lightweight Champion’s jaw, and the fight was over in an instant. The fight would be stopped via KO/TKO with 17 seconds left in the second round.
Ferguson, who is now on a four-fight skid, hasn’t won a fight since losing the lightweight strap to Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in June of 2019. Prior to that, Ferguson was on a 12-fight win streak that spanned from 2013 to 2019. The former lightweight champ looked as though he could find himself back in the win column, likely winning round one with his patented style of speed and power with his strikes.
Chandler is a name that UFC fans will want to remember. The 36-year-old is a former three-time Bellator Lightweight Champion, fighting for the organization from 2010-2020, and only jumped onto the UFC scene in 2021 where he knocked out top contender Dan Hooker in his first fight for the company.
After a poor performance against Charles Oliveira (who just submitted Justin Gaethje at the same show) in a lightweight title fight led way for his 2021 UFC Fight of the Year with Gaethje, where Chandler would lose by unanimous decision back in November of 2021. The win skyrocketed Gaethje to be Oliveira’s next challenge, while Chandler was relegated back to the mid-card for his loss; now, they may need to be switched heading into the next flurry of top lightweight matchups.
Just because Chandler, who sits at 23-7 (2-2, UFC) after a decade of fighting, is new to the UFC doesn’t mean he hasn’t been performing at an elite level since entering the business. He cut his teeth at Mizzou, where he walked onto the Tigers’ wrestling program in 2004 where he would become a program legend.
Not only was he an All-American and four-time NCAA Division I qualifier, but he compiled over 100 wins (100-40 overall; 51-15, Big 12) and placed fifth place at the NCAA Tournament as a senior. He was also a two-time Big 12 Championship runner up.
With Oliveira stripped of the lightweight belt, the title vacant, and the automatic No. 1 contender going to the former champion, the only logical next challenger would be Chandler. Whether UFC President Dana White makes the fight remains to be seen, but now the world knows Michael Chandler, and it won’t be long before he’s earning main event money.