They came to the UFC in the same year, from opposite ends of the fight game.
Michael Chandler, the chiseled champion from another promotion, arrived with fury in his heart, a chip on his shoulder and a desire to make up for lost time since he hit the big time a few months shy of his 35th birthday.
Paddy Pimblett, the brash showman from Liverpool, brought a mop of hair, a mouth filled with sound bytes, and the energy of a street parade.
Both delivered chaos in their debuts. Both stirred doubt as quickly as they stirred excitement.
Now, nearly four years on, they meet Saturday at UFC 314 in Miami: Older, louder, and still polarizing. One is burdened by the question of whether the dream has passed him by. The other? Somehow, still wrapped in the idea that his dream has yet to truly begin.
Chandler entered the UFC with the respect a three-time Bellator champion had earned, but his debut was mind-numbing in its ferocity nonetheless. He bolted from his corner at the first bell of his fight against Dan Hooker at UFC 257 like the shoppers sprinting for the handful of lusted-after gaming consoles on sale at midnight at Walmart on Black Friday.
A blizzard of punches and kicks and it was over almost before it started, Hooker needing to be scraped from the canvas.
Chandler had announced his arrival with a roar.
It’s mostly been a whimper since. He’s lost four of his next five, with the only win coming over a far past-his-best Tony Ferguson at UFC 274. Ferguson actually had a strong first round before Chandler blasted him out with the kick to the head that created a roar that would have rivaled a Las Vegas casino implosion.
That he is still ranked seventh at lightweight is example No. 1,378,914 of why UFC CEO Dana White is searching so hard for a better ratings system. Chandler is among a handful — a small handful — of the most exciting fighters in the sport.
In terms of generating excitement, he’s up there with Sydney Sweeney visiting the sailors on an aircraft carrier in an undisclosed location in the middle of the ocean somewhere.
Exciting gets you a long way in the UFC, but results matter and the cold, hard facts point out that Chandler’s .333 winning percentage does in no way justify that lofty ranking.
That’s especially true in the competitive lightweight division, where Pimblett is 6-0 with four finishes and as many post-fight bonuses, yet enters ranked at 12th. A former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, Pimblett entered the UFC with a 16-3 record on the regional circuit and a reputation as a guy who would balloon up between bouts bigger than a Butterball turkey.
Maybe it is because of the Prince Valiant haircut or the chubby cheeks, but he may be the most called-out 22-3 fighter in MMA history.
“Everybody wants to fight Paddy,” UFC CEO Dana White said.
He’s got clout because of that gaudy record and ability to draw a crowd, but Pimblett hasn’t been the easy mark anyone expected. King Green sneered at Pimblett’s skills before their bout at UFC 304.
“The UFC built him,” Green said, dismissively. “I was built through fire.”
Pimblett toasted him in just 3:22, putting him out with a triangle choke that gave the world a clue that perhaps there was substance behind all that style.
Their bout Saturday will be a defining bout for each of them. Pimblett has all the trappings of a star — A unique look, an adoring fan base, a flashy record and some of the best wisecracks this side of a young Conor McGregor — but he’s mostly tread in the second half of the division.
His first three UFC wins over Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas and Jordan Leavitt were impressive in the manner that any win in the UFC is impressive. He finished all three of them — Vendramini by KO, Vargas and Leavitt by submission — but that’s what prospects do in steppingstone fights, right?
Stephen R. Sylvanie/Imagn Images
Paddy Pimblett (R) is 6-0 in the UFC, including a win over Tony Ferguson in 2023.
Chandler is no steppingstone. He’s a kind-of, sort-of contender since he’s ranked seventh, but even if he hasn’t shown he can defeat the big boys in the UFC, he’s proven he can compete with them.
In November, he dropped the first four rounds to Charles Oliveira only to roar back in the fifth. He slammed Oliveira so hard in the fifth it had to shake President Trump sitting at cageside and it nearly got him a finish.
Oliveira survived the fifth and got the easy decision win. That’s been kind of the story of Chandler’s career.
Chandler’s tagline, “See you at the top,” could perfectly frame Pimblett’s view of his position at lightweight. Few outside of his native Liverpool have seen him as a legitimate championship contender, but if he thrashes Chandler on Saturday, he’s suddenly a Top 10 fighter with a legitimate path to the top.
Chandler, though, is a different situation. Win or lose, he’s not getting cut. White often says he sells “Holy shit!” moments, and who has delivered more of those in the last four years than Chandler?
That ability to bring it night after night and keep the crowd more engaged than JLo in Spandex will keep him in a job for a long time to come in the UFC.
He’s ranked two spots behind Dustin Poirier, his arch rival who plans to retire this year after one more fight.
If Chandler beats Pimblett, he’ll be at no worse than sixth once Poirier steps away. Given that Hooker is ranked one spot above him, it’s not a stretch to think that by summer, Chandler could be fifth. The reality is that when you’re in the top five in the UFC, you’re one injury away from a title shot.
It’ll still be a long and winding road for either to reach the promised land, regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s showdown.
Pimblett is a 9-5 favorite at DraftKings sportsbook, and if he emerges, White might want to sell tickets to the post-fight news conference. That’s going to be wild.
And you know what else is going to be wild?
The fight.
Michael Chandler’s in it and that’s almost always the human version of Demolition Derby.
See (one of you) at the top.