Justin Gaethje thought he was in line to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 262 – until he wasn’t.
After Thursday’s announcement that Khabib Nurmagomedov had officially given up the UFC lightweight title and Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira was booked for the vacant belt on the May 15 card in Houston, Gaethje (22-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) revealed that he was in negotiations for the fight.
From the way he spelled it, it looks like Gaethje was taken aback when the promotion opted to change direction for a fight with Oliveira (via Twitter):
I woke up yesterday training for a fight with Chandler on May 15th hoping for a deal anytime. It’s not like that today, I still don’t know what I’m doing but I like that feeling. It was a good day of sparring training.
– Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) March 20, 2021
I woke up yesterday training for a fight with Chandler on May 15th hoping for a deal anytime. It’s not like that today, I still don’t know what I’m doing but I like that feeling. It was a good day of sparring training.
Gaethje, 32, did not specify whether the confrontation he was negotiating with Chandler would be for the title.
Fighter # 3 in the last ranking of USA TODAY Sports / MMA Junkie lightweight has not competed since losing to Nurmagomedov via submission in the second round at UFC 254 in October.