Michael Chandler reacts after UFC 262 loses Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards co-main event

UFC lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler reacted after Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards was pulled from next weekend’s UFC 262 PPV event.

Chandler headlines next Saturday’s card against Charles Oliveira, with the winner taking home the vacant UFC lightweight title. The original co-main event was set to be Diaz against Edwards in a five-round welterweight bout, but that fight was postponed after Diaz suffered a minor injury in training. Speaking to Farah Hannoun of MMAjunkie.com, Chandler reacted to the news that Diaz vs. Edwards will not take place at UFC 262.

Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) reacts to Nate Diaz’s fight with Leon Edwards moving from #UFC262 ➡️ #UFC263

Full interview coming to @UFCarabia soon. pic.twitter.com/GhSkF16Cnd

— Farah Hannoun (@Farah_Hannoun) May 7, 2021

“Yeah, I mean anytime you can share an event with Nate Diaz — he and I are not friends, I don’t think we’d ever be friends, I don’t think that we are very like-minded individuals — but there’s no doubt he brings eyeballs, he brings hype. And that’s the catch-22 of Nate Diaz. He could have overshadowed the new guy. I’m the new guy, just got here. I’m okay that he fell off the card — well I’m not ok really, it was an injury, I never want to wish an injury on anybody — but you get what I’m saying, it was just postponed four weeks. So he’s still going to get his shot and he’s going to get a shot at a top-three guy and he could end up getting a title shot if he wins this fight,” Michael Chandler said.

“So either way, it would have been great either way. All I know is, this whole thing has been orchestrated by a very, very, very sovereign higher power than me and the UFC since I signed with the UFC because everything has worked out perfectly for me thus far. I just feel extremely blessed to be part of this whole event, to be part of this whole thing. Whether Nate Diaz is on the card or not, it’s still a phenomenal card from top to bottom. The co-main event is now Tony Ferguson vs. Beneil Dariush, a very tough lightweight bout, so we will see how it all unfolds. All I know is I’m going to show up swinging on May 15.”

What do you think of UFC 262 now after losing Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards as the co-main event?