Matt Brown Thinks Michael Chandler ‘Chooses To Be Arturo Gatti When He Could Be Floyd Mayweather’; ‘Needs To Fix His Strategy’

"The Immortal" has weighed in on "Iron" Mike's UFC career.

Matt Brown On Chandler
Matt Brown On Chandler - Image via @mikechandlermma @iamtheimmortal Instagram
  • Matt Brown explained why he thinks Michael Chandler should change his mindset
  • “The Immortal” expounded why being likened to Floyd Mayweather is way better than being likened to Arturo Gatti
  • The UFC veteran gave “Iron” Mike a piece of advice

After an incredible career at Bellator, Michael Chandler joined the UFC with one thing on his mind – to become a champion. He had his fair shot to do so but was stopped by then-eventual UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. Since then, “Iron” has yet to prove that he deserves another crack at the title as his last victory was against the declining Tony Ferguson.

Sharing his take on the trajectory of Chandler’s UFC run thus far, UFC veteran Matt Brown said changes have to be made if the ex-Bellator champ wants to reach legendary heights in the UFC too.

Entertaining fights are different from championship fights

Speaking on MMA Fighting’s “The Fighter vs. The Writer,” Brown stressed that he’s been on Chandler’s shoes before and he could outright tell it’s not how “Iron” could become a champion. Brown said Chandler has been entertaining but he has to remember that he is a champion-caliber fighter and he needs to start acting like one.

“He needs to fix his strategy,” Brown said of Chandler. “In my particular style, that’s just how I fight. That’s how I beat guys. I go in, I wear them out, I make it a tough fight, kind of a Dustin Poirier kind of thing. We go in, we make it dirty, make it grimy, and guys get worn out and overwhelmed by it.”

“Now Michael Chandler, we get the feeling — at least me and you and the people watching — he doesn’t have to do that. He is fighting for the fans. There’s basically two different ways to fight. Do you want to fight for the fans or do you want to fight for yourself and win?,” he pointed out.

Gatti is good but Floyd is better

Brown went on and circled around Dana White’s comment where the UFC boss compared Chandler’s style to that of the late boxing legend Arturo Gatti. For “The Immortal,” being likened to a brawler and relentless fighter like Gatti is a compliment but “Iron” has to begin realizing that he’s way more than just that.

The 42-year-old even cited Chandler’s previous losses as an example. According to Brown, Chandler has the ability to set the pace of the fight but instead, he’s playing his opponent’s game. Brown concluded that Chandler is vicious like Gatti but if he put his mind into it, he could be Floyd Mayweather, the then-boxing phenom who famously obliterated Gatti in 2005.

“Floyd pieced him [Gatti] up easily,” Brown said about the fight. “That’s exactly it. Gatti never developed those skills. That’s sort of the difference with Gatti and Chandler. I think Chandler, as much of a compliment as it is to be compared to Arturo Gatti, [with] Chandler we see the ability to go out there and win titles. I think most of us assume, we don’t know for sure, but we assume he probably could have beaten Dustin Poirier with a smart strategy. But he’s playing Dustin Poirier’s strategy. He’s playing Justin Gaethje’s strategy when he does that.”

“When he goes out there and wings it like that. Does that mean you’re going to lose every time? No, because it works for him a lot of times too, but what you’re doing is you’re playing those guy’s game. Take them out of their game if you have the ability to do that. A lot of guys don’t have the ability to do that. There’s guys that’s kind of what they’re stuck with,” he continued.

“What do we remember Gatti for? The wars. What do we remember Mayweather for? Not any wars,” Brown stressed. “We remember him for piecing people up. That’s my whole criticism here. Not to knock on Michael Chandler, love the dude and love his style and love everything about him. It’s his career, he can do whatever he wants. But what I see is the ability for him to go out there and be that dominant champion, and he simply chooses not to. He chooses to be Arturo Gatti when he could be Floyd Mayweather. Whether that’s right or wrong, we’ll have to see if he ever changes up his style, but that’s what it seems to me is his own choice.”

In the end, Brown gave Chandler some final unsolicited advice and said in fighting, fans adore brawlers but the love pales in comparison to that of winners.

“People love winners more than they love brawlers or anything,” Brown explained. “I could knock myself for this, too. I probably could have settled down many times and just picked people apart or used a little bit of wrestling, but that’s what people are going to remember in the end — the winner. That’s why people talk about Floyd so much, because he keeps winning. What does Floyd talk about all the time? How he wins. That’s all he brings up. That’s what people are going to care about.”

“If you have the ability to do it and you’re saying you want to be a champion, then go do that. You don’t have to please anybody. Now if he wants to just go out and please the fans, that’s fine too. We love that. You’ll keep getting top billings on pay-per-views. You keep putting on f****** amazing fights, Michael. We love that. But you’ve got to kind of decide your strategy and what you want to get out of this,” he added.

Chandler is currently the No. 5 UFC lightweight contender. He is planning to bounce back stronger following a devastating submission loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281. To do so, “Iron” eyes to get a piece of returning UFC superstar Conor McGregor.

Published on January 2, 2023 at 12:44 pm
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