Longtime UFC lightweight contender Charles Oliveira will not only have to worry about former Bellator 155-pound champion Michael Chandler, who fights “Do Bronx” for the vacant strap at UFC 262 on May 15 in Houston, he’ll also have to deal with the 19,000 Texans screaming for “Iron” in their five-round main event.
That’s according to Chandler, who plans on cleaning some clocks in “The Lone Star State.”
“I walk out into a packed arena in Houston, Texas, 19,000 red, white and blue-blooded Americans chanting my name, rooting for me,” Chandler told MMA Fighting. “I go out there and I get in Charles Oliveira’s face immediately and he will realize and feel from the first exchange, from the pressure I put on him, he will immediately start to second guess himself. He will immediately start to overreact. He will immediately start to worry about his legs.”
Chandler (22-5) crossed over from the ranks of Bellator MMA and immediately put the division on notice with his first-round destruction of veteran contender Dan Hooker as part of the UFC 257 fight card back in January.
That said, Oliveira (30-8, 1 NC) is the winner of eight straight with seven violent finishes.
“I’ll go to his head. I’m going to go to his legs. I’m going to go to his body. I’m going to mix it up,” Chandler continued. “A punch is going to land, he’s going to get his clock cleaned. He’s going to wake up to the bright lights of me standing on top the cage about to get my hand raised and UFC gold around my waist. That’s how it’s going to go. I predict it’s going to be in the first round. Then I predict a phenomenal end to 2021 and then we’re going to carry this baby on for a couple of years.”
Oliveira remains a slight betting favorite for their May 15 title fight.