Michael Chandler breaks silence and shares disappointment for Justin Gaethje amid UFC 313 shakeup: "I appreciate all the interest"

Michael Chandler has indicated his sympathies for Justin Gaethje experiencing a bout fallout but also put the kibosh on running it back for a rematch now. Gaethje was initially supposed to fight Dan Hooker at UFC 313 but alas Hooker has been forced to withdraw from their co-main event pay-per-view bout in Las Vegas.

Hooker sustained a hand injury with question marks out there about who could fight Gaethje in the coming weeks. It seems based on the social media response of the former multi-time Bellator lightweight champion that many are wondering if Chandler could occupy that UFC 313 vacancy.

Chandler does have his next assignment locked in though and it is at the subsequent pay-per-view event where he will clash with Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314. Taking to his personal X account to throw cold water on the idea that he may run it back with Gaethje from their UFC 268 classic, Chandler said:

"I appreciate all the interest... But I've got my opponent and my date. Gutted for JG... But I know he's down to fight anyone... We will see him fight at the scheduled date. As for me... #ufc 314 gon be [fire emojis]"

Check out Michael Chandler's response to Justin Gaethje's UFC 313 bout falling out below:

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Michael Chandler on the biggest unknown with Paddy Pimblett fight

Michael Chandler is set for a five-round clash with Paddy Pimblett with the winner being well positioned in the lightweight hierarchy but there are question marks here for the former. One of the primary questions Chandler has is something that he touched upon during a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show.

The 38-year-old feels Pimblett will be tested more than he has in his entire career:

"I think Paddy has faded. He was fading in the Tony Ferguson fight, and in the Jared Gordon fight. I just went twenty five minutes with Charles Oliveira... It's deep waters... So why not do it twenty five minutes? If you say you're going to be a future champion, if you're looked at [like that], you have to fight for twenty five minutes."

The Missouri native could be touching on an intriguing tendril of this contest as Pimblett has not been booked for a five-round MMA bout since 2018. That took place against Soren Bak at Cage Warriors 96 in an outing for the CW lightweight belt which saw Pimblett lose after several onlookers felt like he was fading.