Din Thomas takes no joy out of seeing the losses pile up for Michael Chandler.
Former three-time Bellator champion Chandler (23-11 MMA, 2-5 UFC) finds himself at a career crossroads after a first-round TKO defeat to Mauricio Ruffy at UFC Freedom 250 in June saw his losing skid reach four consecutive fights.
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Just over two years ago, Chandler was a mere weeks away from headlining UFC 303 against Conor McGregor after a long wait for the fight. McGregor pulled out with an injury, and his career has taken a hard downward turn since with losses to Ruffy, Paddy Pimblett and Charles Oliveira.
Chandler, who is now 40, has been the subject of speculation since falling to Ruffy at the White House. Longtime analyst and MMA coach Thomas is now among those calling for “Iron” to retire from MMA competition.
“Nah (I don’t want to see Chandler fight anymore),” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “I think he’s got to make a decision on how he just wants to bow out gracefully. I think this comes down to him just trying to find a way to bow out gracefully and just, ‘Hey guys, I did the best I could, it wasn’t enough.’ And that’s a condition of reality, is that no one is promised anything. Hard work doesn’t promise you success, belief in yourself doesn’t promise you success, and he’s a classic case of it.
“We know he’s a guy who works hard and we know he’s a guy who believes in himself. At one point he was a very talented fighter. But it passed him up, and he’s got to accept that and just be able to bow out gracefully.”
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What a Chandler retirement situation looks like would remain to be seen. The longtime MMA veteran hasn’t indicated that he’s done in the aftermath of UFC Freedom 250, and speculation over his social media post has led some to believe he is considering a move up to the welterweight division.
Thomas doesn’t see pushing forward – new weight or not – as a realistic fix. He has seen a decline in Chandler’s game, and Thomas said he genuinely doesn’t want to see things get worse.
“It gets bad when you become the butt of the jokes,” Thomas said. “And I don’t want to see Michael Chandler be the butt of the jokes because he doesn’t deserve that. But if he hangs out too long, then he’s putting himself in the position to where it’s like, ‘Dude, we tried to tell you to get out. If you want to stick around, we’re just going to make fun of you.’ And I don’t want to see him go through that, so hopefully he can find a way to bow out gracefully because he deserves a better sendoff than for people to be making fun of him.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Din Thomas urges Michael Chandler to retire before he’s ‘butt of the jokes’
