Michael Chandler weighs in on enemy Patricio Pitbull’s UFC 314 debut: ‘There’s a little bit of bad blood’

Former lightweight title challenger, Michael Chandler has claimed former-foe, Patricio Pitbull could find himself in the featherweight title picture with a debut win at UFC 314 against Yair Rodriguez — admitting that there is still a tad bit of “bad blood” between the duo.

Chandler, who returns on the same card as former two-weight Bellator MMA champion, Pitbull, takes on surging lightweight grappler, Paddy Pimblett over the course of five rounds in a co-main event clash.

Sidelined since last November, Chandler most recently suffered a unanimous decision loss against Pitbull’s compatriot, former gold holder, Charles Oliveira over the course of five rounds at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden.

And facing off with Pitbull in his third and final lightweight title reign under the Bellator MMA banner, Chandler would suffer a devastating opening round knockout loss back in 2019, after knocking out Pitbull’s elder brother, Patricky to kickstart his second title run three years prior.

Michael Chandler details feud with UFC 314 debutante Patricio Pitbull

Addressing the Natal native’s move to the UFC, Chandler claimed he was unsure how the veteran Brazilian fan-favorite would perform, before detailing the bad blood the two share ahead of their main card reuniting.

Honestly, I haven’t seen a fight, I haven’t seen one of his (Patricio Pitbull) fights in a very long time, so I don’t know where his skill set is at,” Michael Chandler told Ariel Helwani for Uncrowned. “All I do know is I wish him well. There was a little bit of animosity, a little bit of bad blood. I think a lot of that actually stemmed from my discontent with where I was in my life, knowing that I was stuck in Bellator and wanted to get out. So I needed something to blame it on, and sometimes my opponents were that. And Patricio was an easy target because I had beat his brother and he F-U’d me when I stood on the cage.

And I said something about family, obviously because I thought his brother, they are by definition family,” Michael Chandler explained. “So when I used the word family, I think he was thinking I was talking about his wife and his kids and his mom and his aunts and all that stuff so it became language barrier unfortunate set of circumstances but I wish him well I think he’s dynamic I think he’s explosive.