‘Iron’ Michael Chandler has been a bit too malleable perhaps, losing four out of his last five fights. Despite delivering amazing performances, the former Bellator champion has been plagued by defeat after defeat while fighting the top talents of the lightweight division. Nevertheless, Chandler remains in the top 10 rankings, which has apparently irked Beneil Dariush. He finds it difficult to understand why Chandler is ranked #7 in the lightweight division.

While speaking with ‘The Schmo,’ Beneil Dariush was asked about his next opponent. The Iranian-American fighter expressed his desire to face Dustin Poirier, followed by Max Holloway, and possibly even Michael Chandler. However, he has some words for the former Bellator champion, “Honestly, I don’t know why Chandler is in the top 10. He is a great fighter but, his record doesn’t show top-10 quality.”

He further added, “They [UFC] said they’re going to have a good fight for me, is what they said. I don’t want to misquote them, so they said they’re going to have a good fight for me. I believe that means somebody ranked ahead of me, so that’s what I’m hoping for. We’ll see what happens.” As of now, Beneil Dariush is ranked #9 on the lightweight table while Chandler is ahead of him at #7, despite losing most of his battles under the UFC banner.

Michael Chandler has defeated only Dan Hooker among the top ten in the lightweight rankings. He has suffered defeats against Charles Oliveira twice, and once each against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. The former Bellator champion was supposed to clash against Conor McGregor at UFC 303 but this bout was canceled due to the fact that ‘Mystic Mac’ injured his toe. Since then there have been no signs of a clash between the duo.

When we look at Michael Chandler‘s fighting style, there’s no doubt that the former Bellator champ relentlessly pushes forward and delivers entertaining fights. In addition to that, he possesses the power and explosiveness to finish his opponents. However, what holds him back is his fight IQ. To put it into perspective, Chandler was knocked out by Charles Oliveira, who was a submission specialist. He then went toe-to-toe with Justin Gaethje but lost the fight by unanimous decision. He was later submitted by Dustin Poirier, who is renowned for his striking.

Well, after his back-to-back defeats under the UFC, what’s next for Michael Chandler? The former Bellator champion has listed out several names, who he wants to fight now.

Michael Chandler lists out names who he wants to clash against

Looking to bounce back from his defeat against Charles Oliveira at UFC 309, Chandler has listed several names with whom he wants to trade hands. From the top dogs to the newbies to the veterans, Chandler has expressed interest in fighting against anyone to get back at the winning column. While having a conversation with ‘MMAJunkie,’ Michael Chandler emphasized that he would like to clash against Arman Tsarukyan – “Arman is a possibility because Dana said he’s going to have to build himself back with one more fight.”

The pair even had a brief war of words after Arman refused to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 302. “I am here to be the champ. You are just waiting for a paycheck. I also don’t understand why you waited [for] Conor fight for two years, you could’ve lost four exciting fights during that time,” Tsarukyan said of Chandler.

Moving forward to the next name, the former Bellator champion expressed that he would love to lock horns against Paddy Pimblett, “Paddy is a fun fight. I think comparatively, the guys that I’ve fought, the murderers row, coming into the UFC, I welcome that fight. It’s a big fight. It’s a fun fight. I’m a fan of Paddy. I like the way he does things. I like his brand. He’s one of the good ones in the sport. I don’t have to hate somebody to want to separate them from consciousness because that is my goal if I were to fight him.”

Concluding his statement, Chandler emphasized that he would love to fight veteran Beneil Dariush as well, “Dariush, he had his opponent taken last fight. There are a lot of names. The UFC lightweight division is and has always been one of the most exciting, deep, and stacked divisions.”

Michael Chandler has set his eyes upon three opponents for now but will the UFC CEO Dana White agree to his demands? Only time will tell. Regardless, what’s your take on the hubbub? State your thoughts in the comments below.