"If I would've beaten Charles" - Michael Chandler blames himself for missed shot at Ilia Topuria

Michael Chandler recently weighed in on the lightweight title situation and expressed his regret for missing his opportunity to fight Ilia Topuria. Chandler's latest results were a factor and one loss in particular ruled him out of a title shot.

Chandler returned to the octagon last November after a two-year layoff, where he lost a unanimous decision to Charles Oliveira. 'Iron' has been out of action due to his bout with Conor McGregor constantly being postponed and falling through. As a result, the former Bellator champion accepted a fight against Oliveira, which had major title implications.

In his latest conversation with MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn, Chandler admitted that his loss to Oliveira turned out to be a massive missed opportunity as he could have earned a lightweight title shot.

Chandler mentioned that he could have been fighting Topuria instead of Oliveira, but expressed excitement for the current landscape of the division. He said:

"I've had these great opportunities and they've just slipped through my fingers. So, if I would've beaten Charles, I would be fighting Ilia for the title right now, but it's the way the sport goes. I'm not surprised at all, the craziness that's happening. I'm happy Ilia came up to 155 [pounds], I'm happy Max came up... [Dustin] Poirier leaving the sport in the next six weeks, which is crazy... Gaethje... Paddy. There's a bunch of different stuff going on."

Check out Michael Chandler's comments below:

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Michael Chandler explains what went wrong against Paddy Pimblett

Michael Chandler also discussed the key reasons behind his latest loss to Paddy Pimblett.

In the aforementioned clip, Chandler mentioned that Pimblett was difficult to read with his movements and range, which resulted in him getting caught with a knee but credited 'The Baddy' for a great performance:

"I feel like I just couldn't get my rhythm, I couldn't get my range. Obviously, Paddy's long... fights long, fights with his chin way up in the air and he's pretty far away from you. He throws a lot of kicks to keep the distance and I felt like I was just kind of getting settled in and obviously took the knee to the face and then got taken down and that was the end of it. It's one of those deals where you learn. Hats off to Paddy."

Check out the full interview featuring Michael Chandler's comments below: