Michael Chandler will be a ‘timid soul’ when he feels my power, says Justin Gaethje ahead of UFC 268

Justin Gaethje believes his UFC 268 showdown with Michael Chandler can only end in a knockout given the exciting styles of both men.

On paper Gaethje vs Chandler is a barnburner and should be guaranteed action for the fans to lap up. 

And Gaethje, who has not fought since losing in his title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov last year, feels there is almost no chance of the contest going the distance. 

Justin Gaethje (L) and Michael Chandler (R) will collide at UFC 268 on November 7

Chandler, 35, lost in his title fight with Charles Oliveira back in May at UFC 262 

‘He loves fighting just as much as me. Styles make matchups and this is a stylistic matchup for the fans,’ he told The Schmo.

‘Someone’s gonna get knocked out. Unless he turns into a b***h and tries to turn this into a wrestling match the whole time. 

‘He’s talking about timid souls taking a step backwards. He’s gonna be a timid soul when he starts shooting for legs because he doesn’t like the power. That’s what I think.’ 

Gaethje remains one of the most compelling fighters in the UFC and lives up to his nickname ‘The Highlight’. 

Chandler shone spectacularly on his debut with a first-round KO of Dan Hooker before losing in his title shot against Charles Oliveira.

Gaethje suffered a comprehensive defeat against Khabib and is looking forward to a return  

Now he’ll face one of the division’s most dangerous fighters and Gaethje went on to express his frustration and being left behind in the 155-pound division since Khabib retired. 

He went on: ‘I was the most recent interim title holder. I see both ways to it. From the outside, being me, I was not happy. If I’m on the inside, if I’m running a $4 billion company, $5-6 billion company, then I’d probably want to try to have people forget about that guy. So yeah, they did what they wanted to do, had to do in their eyes. I was upset, but it doesn’t matter. Gotta go on, gotta keep working.

‘I lost. I don’t think you should get a title shot off a loss, but I think the circumstances were special. Similar to the circumstances that got Cory Sandhagen a title fight. 

‘He just came off a loss and he jumped in there for a title fight, and the guy didn’t retire. There’s been other ones, other examples of people getting shots off of losses. So yeah, I thought that was a b***s**t way of saying I shouldn’t get it, just because I lost. Circumstances were different and that’s what it was.’

The American believes he will have another shot at the title if he beats Chandler  

But a victory over Chandler will make Gaethje’s claim for another title shot hard to resist. 

‘I go out there and get the dub on November 6 and I will be fighting the winner of Poirier and Oliveira,’ he continued. 

‘That’s definitely the plan. No 1 fought No 5, No 3 fought No 4, and if you were No 2 you got f*****d, and it just so happened that my name was next to that No 2 spot. 

‘So it is what it is. The opportunity is ahead of me to get what I want but I’ve got to capitalize.’