Michael Chandler explains why Tony Ferguson fight fell apart: “The situation was definitely mismanaged”

Michael Chandler wanted to have his UFC debut against Tony Ferguson, but that did not come to fruition.

After Chandler signed with the UFC, it was reported he would be on the UFC 254 card against Ferguson. However, negotiations stalled, and the former Bellator lightweight champion ended up being the backup fighter for the Gaethje vs. Khabib title fight. Now, as Chandler is set to face Dan Hooker at UFC 257, Chandler explained why the Ferguson fight didn’t happen.

“The Tony Ferguson situation was definitely mismanaged. We had the opportunity for him and I to step in the cage in January, inside the Octagon, on this card, Tony says no,” Chandler said to ESPN. “Then, he takes a relatively short notice fight against Oliveira after calling me out. I say no, I needed three weeks, four weeks off after this last nine-month-long training camp I did. My opinion of him hasn’t changed, it is just unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that I’m not fighting Tony Ferguson right now, but I went through that through a day or so. Then, it was four other names and Hooker being one of them.”

Michael Chandler is currently on a two-fight winning streak with both coming by first-round KO over Sidney Outlaw and Benson Henderson. Before that, he suffered a TKO loss to Patricio Freire to lose his lightweight title. The former Bellator champion is set to face Dan Hooker in the co-main event of UFC 257.

Tony Ferguson, meanwhile, is on a two-fight losing streak after being dominated in back-to-back fights by Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Before the losses, “El Cucuy” was on a 12-fight winning streak with wins over Anthony Pettis, Kevin Lee, Donald Cerrone, and Rafael dos Anjos among others.

Whether or not Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson will share the Octagon with one another is uncertain.

Who do you think would’ve won, Michael Chandler or Tony Ferguson?