Michael Chandler might be on a 3-fight skid, but that didn’t stop him from stepping into the ring on social media. After streamer Adin Ross recently revealed Khamzat Chimaev’s sky-high streaming fee, ‘Iron Mike’ couldn’t help but take a playful jab. However, he may not have expected the post to backfire on him spectacularly! So, what exactly happened?

It all started when Adin Ross opened up about a failed attempt to get Khamzat Chimaev on his stream. According to the influencer, “I connected with someone from Khamzat’s team and the guy said $700,000 to stream with Khamzat. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. It was insane.” Ross may have been stunned, but Chandler saw an opening. He took to X and posted, “Yo @adinross I’ll go your stream for way less than $700K.”

A clear shot at Chimaev’s demand. It was tongue-in-cheek, but the timing couldn’t have been sharper. The Chechen warrior is just weeks away from his middleweight title shot against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319, and fans are already questioning why ‘Borz’ isn’t doing more media. UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney didn’t let the post slide either. He replied, “We should do it together, some father son bonding time.” But there’s history behind McKinney’s jokes.

Just weeks ago, after Chandler’s brutal TKO loss to Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314, McKinney had called him out in a series of scathing posts on X. ‘T-Wrecks’ wrote, “Your sons all grown up time for a new man of the house,” The comment wasn’t just playful, it referenced Chandler’s adopted son and McKinney’s hunger for recognition.

McKinney, known for his wild first-round finishes, has long believed Chandler’s style matches his own, aggressive, no time wasted, go-for-broke. “Let’s see who is the best first rd’er in the lightweight division,” he added. After all, McKinney has never seen the judges in his 11 fights in the UFC so far!

And that’s what makes this back-and-forth so layered. Michael Chandler is still a big name, a former Bellator champ, and is currently ranked No. 12 in the 155 lbs. division. But his last win came in 2022 over Tony Ferguson, who later exited the promotion on the worst losing streak in UFC history. As such, for Terrance McKinney, it’s not just about trash talk. It’s about climbing the ranks.

Now, Chandler’s joke about Khamzat Chimaev’s $700K fee has turned into a boomerang. In trying to take a jab at one fighter, he ended up catching heat from another. Yet, surprisingly, this wasn’t the only recent social media fumble by ‘Iron Mike’!

Michael Chandler digs another hole for himself with his clapback at Tom Aspinall

Michael Chandler found himself in the crosshairs of the internet again, this time thanks to UFC heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall. The British powerhouse was recently analyzing Chandler’s performance alongside Paddy Pimblett, the man who handed him yet another loss at UFC 314.

Aspinall stated, “It’s bad fight IQ. … It’s weird because he’s obviously a really fit guy, but if you do a sprint for five minutes, no one’s going to be fit, are they? He just goes out there, he throws from here, swinging, everything he does is picking up full blast.”

So what did Chandler do in response? He fired back on Threads, writing, “Didn’t that big goober say this like 3 years ago? And then waited as long for Jon as I did for Conor after he criticized me for waiting for Conor? Cool,”

The comeback may have been witty, but it didn’t land like he hoped. Many fans were quick to point out the obvious flaw. Aspinall’s wait was for a title unification fight, not a “red panty night”.

Unlike Chandler, whose long layoff was tied to a mega-fight with Conor McGregor, Aspinall had already earned interim gold and was simply waiting for the official champ to step into the cage with him. In trying to score points online, Michael Chandler may have only deepened the cracks in his current standing.

His jab at Khamzat Chimaev sparked a roasting session from Terrance McKinney, and his attempt to clap back at Tom Aspinall fell flat under closer scrutiny. At a time when wins are scarce and critics are loud, Chandler’s digital swings seem just as wild as the ones he throws inside the Octagon!