‘Referee never said one thing’… Michael Chandler hits back at claims he cheated in UFC 309 fight with Charles Oliveira

Michael Chandler has insisted that he didn’t break any rules during his controversial defeat to Charles Oliveira earlier this month.

The lightweight stars rematched at Madison Square Garden in the co-main event of UFC 309, with Oliveira coming out on top after a five round battle. There was no issue with the decision, but Chandler’s late onslaught saw him throw a number of elbows that were believed to be illegal.

At one point the former Bellator champion managed to drop Oliveira towards the end of the fight, and it was widely believed that the shots he threw after the fact were not allowed. However, he reckons referee Keith Peterson was right not to call it, and defended his actions.

Who is Michael Chandler? Meet the iconic lightweight MMA fighter with a flare for the dramaticCharles Oliveira claimed Michael Chandler threw illegal elbows at UFC 309In the immediate aftermath of their five-round rematch, Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler appeared to be respectful of one another. They earned fight of the night bonuses that added $50,000 to their fight purses, and were positive in their post-fight comments.

However, Oliveira did have one critique, declaring that Chandler had used a number of illegal tactics in order to gain an advantage. Aside from the back of the head shots, he also reckoned the American broke other rules.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC“You know, I’m not here to criticize,” Oliveira told the media on fight night after his victory. “But I want to tell you something, there were a lot of blows to the back of the head, a lot of fence grabbing, there was also some eye-pokes.

“And I was telling him [the referee] what was going on. I kept calling for his attention and nothing would happen. I’d hoped that he would intervene, but nothing happened, so I’m not here to criticize.”

UFC fighters believe Michael Chandler cheated in Charles Oliveira fightThe incident was not the first time Chandler has been accused of being a dirty fighter, with Dustin Poirier infamously declaring he had used illegal tactics in their 2022 meeting. And a number of UFC stars who were watching on the night noticed his cheeky efforts, and took to social media with their opinions.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCFeatherweight contender Sodiq Yusuff wrote in a sarcastic message: “If Chandler ain’t cheating he ain’t trying,” before adding a few minutes later: “Wow what a crazy twist. 56 shots to the back of the head but hey.”

Billy Quarantillo, who also competes at 145lb, then joked that “Chandler was losing 4 rounds so Keith let him land all the back of the head shots.” Jessica Penne then asked her followers “Are we not calling strikes to the back of the head anymore?”

Michael Chandler defends himself against cheating allegationsHowever, Michael Chandler has staunchly defended himself against accusations of cheating. During an appearance tonight on The Ariel Helwani Show, he promised that he was within the rules, noting that Peterson not stepping in was a sign he was legally elbowing.

“Watching it on TV wasn’t as appealing to me,” he said. “The commentary, when it comes to some of the stuff they were saying; the misinterpretation of what the back of the head is by the unified rules of Mixed Martial Arts.

“The misinterpretation of what cage grapping is, and a couple of different things, it’s all water under the bridge at this point. But more than anything I’m an honest guy, I try to live pretty full of integrity and full of honesty and the narrative that has been painted is not very interesting to me.

“I’m not very happy about it, but that’s all part of it… I’m not going to say I didn’t do anything wrong, okay? I’m not going to say that people couldn’t look at it and splice it and look at it under a fine tooth comb and a magnifying glass.

“But the unified rules of Mixed Martial Arts say that there is a line drawn from the crown of the head down to the back of the head, one inch variance on either side. So you’re talking about a two-inch area on the back of someone’s head that is considered the back of the head.

“If you watch 90 per cent of the shots, at least, most of them, almost all of them, my fist was catching the ear. If you’re catching the ear, that’s not the back of the head. Actually, what you and I would call the back of the head is not the actual definition of what it is.

“A referee who was within two feet away never said one thing about it. Then you’ve got commentators who were 35-feet away saying it’s the back of the head and you’ve got other people saying it was back of the head.

“If a a referee was saying ‘watch the back of the head,’ or ‘that is the back of the head’ then I’d understand.”

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