Michael Chandler unhappy with ‘cheater’ reputation coming into UFC 314: ‘It’s a little tough for me’

Even though several past opponents have called him out for fighting dirty, Chandler believes his rep as a cheater is an unfair narrative.

Ryan Harkness breaks down daily mixed martial arts (MMA) news, providing unique context to stories that only 15 years of obsessing over the sport can provide, having worked for FOX Sports, Yahoo! Sports, UPROXX, MSN, Bleacher Report, HDNet and CagePotato, among others, before joining MMAmania.com in 2017.

Michael Chandler may not be the biggest cheater in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but he’s certainly the biggest cheater who denies cheating.

Okay, maybe not.

Nevertheless, at this point, we’ve all heard the infamous words of Tito Ortiz, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” They’re nearly as ubiquitous in this sport as, “It is what it is.” And those two kind of go together, because when it comes to cheating, it is what it is. Despite what the rules say, you can cheat a whole bunch in a mixed martial arts (MMA) fight and almost never get penalized.

That’s the reason so many fighters repeat Ortiz’s line with a wink and a laugh.

Chandler’s UFC 314 opponent, Paddy Pimblett, dropped that line when discussing Chandler’s reputation for fish hooking and punching fighters in the back of the head. He doesn’t care. Fans don’t seem to care.

But, Chandler certainly cares that he’s being accused of being dishonorable in the cage.

“I’m a guy who tries to do things right, tries to treat people right, do things with honor and respect,” Chandler told MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck in a new interview. “So, the cheating narrative is a little tough for me.”

Chandler does this weird thing where he admits to all the illegal things he does, but insists they’re just natural reactions and happenstance moments caused by the chaos of cage fighting.

“Things happen in a fight,” he declared. “Are you going to reach over and grab the cage? Are you going to get your fingers in the glove? Yeah. Those things are going to happen in a fight. In the last fight, Charles Oliveira dug his chin so deep into my eye socket that I thought I was going to go blind, which is illegal. It’s an eye gouge, right? He was grabbing my gloves when he was trying to choke me.

“These things happen when you’re inside of the cage,” he added. “I would never say that Charles Oliveira is a cheater. His body is reacting and doing things without his brain’s permission. You’re in fight or flight. Things happen. So, it’s a tough narrative.”

In the end, Chandler believes the haters are gonna hate anyway, so why change how he’s fighting to try and please them?

“I am doing exactly what I feel necessary in the fight,” he said. “The referees, if they tell me to stop, I’m going to stop. There’s a lot of things that you do inside the Octagon that you don’t even really realize you’re doing and it’s the ref’s job to tell you.”

Make sure to tune into MMAmania.com next week for a full breakdown of all the fouls Chandler pulled on Pimblett during UFC 314 without any punishment.

Things happen.

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FEATHERWEIGHT MADNESS! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., March 8, 2025, with a high-stakes clash between 205-pound kingpin, Alex Pereira, defending his Light Heavyweight crown against formidable No. 1-ranked contender, Magomed Ankalaev, in the five-round main event. In UFC 313’s electrifying co-headliner from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lightweight fan-favorite and former interim champion, Justin Gaethje, will rematch the dynamic Rafael Fiziev in a three-round rematch, stepping in on short notice after Dan Hooker’s withdrawal due to injury. UFC 313 will also feature a hard-hitting Heavyweight battle between Curtis Blaydes and promotional newcomer, Rizvan Kuniev, alongside a Lightweight showdown with Jalin Turner facing Ignacio Bahamondes, and so much more! UFC 313’s start time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 314 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+)

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