When Tony Ferguson says Michael Chandler carries “Dana White privilege” into the octagon, Chandler’s response is: guilty as charged.
Ferguson wasn’t in a laughing mood when he unloaded on the UFC and White during a media day in support of his fight with Chandler at UFC 274, which takes place Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix. But Chandler had some fun with the topic anyway.
” I’m sorry Tony. But that Dana White privilege quote might be one of the most hilarious things ever said at a microphone within mixed martial arts,” Chandler stated on Wednesday. He’s correct, Dana White privilege is not on the line here – I have it.” Dana White privilege does not lie here, I already have it .”
Ferguson used this term to express his disgust at Chandler’s fight against Charles Oliveira in the UFC 262 for the vacant lightweight title. Chandler had been criticized by the former interim lightweight champion for refusing to fight him in December. Chandler accused of Ferguson of turning down a fight with him two months prior and defended his decision to move on.
After a few rounds in the media, the top-tier lightweights are finally scheduled to fight. Ferguson is looking to break a three-fight skid, while Chandler is on the rebound after losses to Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, who meets the Brazilian champ in Saturday’s headliner.
Chandler said there’s no bad blood on his end of things.
“It’s all fun,” he said. After the press conference, I saw him. It’s all respect. It’s all respect. He will try to take my head off and go outside, while I’ll do the exact same. However, when it comes down to animosity I have no animosity towards him. He is all business.
“Is it true, is it blunder, is it just lip service? It’s hard to know. We don’t know.
The way Chandler sees it, no matter who wins in the main event of Saturday, he’s well-positioned to fight the winner if he comes out ahead against Ferguson.
“There’s not an MMA fan alive that doesn’t want to see me rematch either of those guys, Charles Oliveira, and especially Justin Gaethje in a five-round title fight,” Chandler said. “So we’ll see what happens. “All I know is that I’m able to take care of Saturday night’s business. I’ll break bread with Dana and [UFC COO] Hunter [Campbell], and we’ll talk about what’s next.”
That is exactly what Chandler says happens when you have his privilege.
