UFC 268: Justin Gaethje vs Michael Chandler Added to Card
UFC has added a lightweight bout between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler to UFC 268.
ESPN reports that the contract is not signed at the moment, but both fighters have agreed to the fight. UFC is targeting the fight for 6 November for Madison Square Garden in New York. Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington will headline the card for the Welterweight title.
Justin Gaethje lost the Lightweight title unification match to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 in October 2020. Before that, Geathje defeated James Vick(KO), Edson Barboza(KO) and Donald Cerrone(TKO)- all in the first rounds of their fights. Gaethje then defeated Tony Ferguson to become the interim Lightweight Championship in the main event of UFC 249.
Chandler also lost his last bout, for the vacant Lightweight Championship, to Charles Oliviera at UFC 262. He won his UFC debut fight against Dan Hooker at UFC 257 with TKO in the first round. Chandler is a former Bellator Lightweight Champion.
UFC President Dana White has been interested in a fight between Gaethje and Chandler since Chandler’s debut. This has also led to some verbal wars between the two fighters.
Earlier this month, Chandler took a jibe at Gaethje when he accused him of ducking out of the fight. Chandler also said that Gaethje’s management is trying to throw a fight against Makhachev towards him. Gaethje responded to these comments via Twitter that he was waiting for a fight agreement with Chandler, but Chandler got the title shot instead.
Gaethje and Chandler are ranked at #2 and #4 in UFC Lightweight Rankings. For Gaethje, another win would propel him towards another title shot. But Chandler might have to work more fights before a title shot.
