What a FIGHT! There are a lot of fights on paper that would probably be a BANGER but did not live up to the expectations like Ngannou vs Lewis for example. Gaethje vs Chandler, on the other hand, was what fans anticipated and definitely lived up to the hype.
Both fighters did not care much about defense and just swing until someone was getting knocked out. From the opening bell to the end of the fight, fans were just excited because of how violent the fight was.
It seems that Chandler had the power advantage between the two but Gaethje had better leg kicks and was just too durable. There were moments that Gaethje got rocked but he stayed in the fight, as for Chandler he was just putting his hands down and got punished for it.
The wide stance of Chandler also did not help in defending the leg kicks of Gaethje, he did throw some but it was not the same volume that Gaethje throws. Chandler tried to mix in his wrestling to catch Gaethje off guard but Gaethje was well aware and managed to defend or reverse the attempts.
In the second round, Gaethje managed to land a counter uppercut that knocked Chandler down. In real-time, it looked like the end for Michael Chandler but he once again proved that he is a warrior and he still has that dog in him. Chandler managed to survive the barrage of punches, but his face was busted up.
At the last round, Chandler still kept moving forward which is not the best idea against someone as hard-hitting as Gaethje. Chandler absorbed a lot of heavy strikes but still kept coming, he may have lost the fight but he gained a lot of fans. He even gained Gaethje’s respect after the fight.
The fight was probably the best fight to open up the main card, what better way for it to take place in Madison Square Garden. UFC awarded it as the fight of the night. It is worth noting that Gaethje and Chandler never had a boring UFC fight, win or lose they put on a show for the fans.
