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Former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje is reportedly set to return to the octagon against former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler later this year.
As reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, a fight between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler has been verbally agreed upon for UFC 268.
The official date and venue for the pay-per-view is yet to be finalized. However, the consensus is that the event is being targeted for November 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In an interview with The Mac Life, ‘Iron’ Mike recently suggested that ‘The Highlight’ had turned down a fight with him on multiple occasions. Chandler stated:
"I'll tell you what, I've said Justin Gaethje's name no less than a 100 times since I've signed with the organization. He has been asked to fight me three or four different times; every time he has declined. He and I rank two spots away from each other. He hasn't fought since last October. He needs to get a fight if he thinks he's gonna fight for the title. For some reason, him and his camp have no interest in fighting me."
Watch Chandler's comments on Gaethje in the video below:
Justin Gaethje fired back by indicating that Chandler’s claims were untrue. Gaethje tweeted:
"@MikeChandlerMMA is talking out of his a**. I was waiting for the bout agreement 3 weeks into camp and wake up to news his daddy Dana gave him the shot. He’s been out of commission since the KO. What am I missing? I’m on vacay and this f**ker is slandering my name. 3-4 times?"
Chandler responded to Gaethje with a tweet of his own.
"Let’s make it happen then. The fans want it. I’ve been asking for it."
Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler aim to work their way back to a title shot
Both Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler came up short in their respective fights for the undisputed UFC lightweight title.
Gaethje’s most recent fight was a second-round submission loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov in their 155-pound unification matchup at UFC 254 last October.
Meanwhile, Michael Chandler’s last fight was a second-round TKO loss against Charles Oliveira in their fight for the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 262 in May.
After his second consecutive victory over Conor McGregor this year, Dustin Poirier will almost certainly fight UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira for the belt later this year.
The Gaethje-Chandler winner will likely challenge the Oliveira-Poirier victor for the title in early 2022.
