Chandler opens up on what went wrong in his fight against Paddy Pimblett

Michael Chandler finally broke his silence. It's been a month and a half since Paddy Pimblett handed him the heaviest defeat of his career. Pimblett then celebrated with a third-round TKO after complete dominance and brutal ground-and-pound at the Kaseya Center in Miami at UFC 314.

Aside from a few motivational posts, Chandler has yet to comment on the fight against Pimblett itself. Now he explained to MMA Junkie what went wrong in the fight against the British MMA star.

- I felt like I couldn't get into the rhythm at all. I couldn't find the right distance. Paddy fights at distance, keeps his chin up, is quite far away and throws a lot of kicks to keep the distance. I felt like I was just getting used to it, and then I got a knee to the face, ended up on the floor and that was it. It's one of those situations you have to learn from. Hats off to Paddy, he had a great plan and did a great job.

Chandler has no regrets about taking the fight, even though he had a knee problem.

- I was coming off a knee injury that required rehabilitation and physical therapy. It started to get better, and I'm the type of fighter who prefers to move forward rather than sit and wait. Maybe it wasn't the right decision, but I was moving well in training... The decision to take the fight so early was entirely mine.

Return

As for his return, he decided to take a break over the summer and enjoy himself as a fan, but he is aware that there are many potential opponents in the future.

- I'm definitely going to take some time off. I'm going to take the summer off. I've already told the UFC: 'Hey, don't call me for any events over the summer.' I'll be there, I'll be a fan, I'll make some appearances.

- I'll still be a part of the UFC brand, but I have to give my body time to recover. Then we'll see what happens next. There are a lot of names, a lot of opportunities, so we'll see - concluded Chandler.