Michael Chandler gives a scathing reply to USADA drug cheat "clickbait" on social media

Michael Chandler has responded to what he labeled a "clickbait" post on social media. At the surface level, the said post appeared to link him and fighters who'd failed United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug tests.

Chandler, a former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, competed in his maiden UFC bout in January 2021. 'Iron' swiftly cemented himself as one of the top lightweights in the world's premier MMA organization. Akin to other UFC athletes, he was enrolled in the USADA testing pool and had to pass tests administered by the agency to be eligible for competition inside the octagon.

In late 2023, USADA and the UFC confirmed that their partnership would come to a close at the end of the year. Besides, with USADA's exit, the UFC roped in Drug Free Sport International (DFSI). The DFSI now oversees the anti-doping administration in regard to the UFC.

A recent Instagram post on the "@poll_mma" handle featured a list of UFC fighters who fans probably forgot were suspended after failing USADA-administered drug tests.

The list included UFC bantamweight champion 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley, middleweight Marvin Vettori, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, featherweights Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez, ex-UFC middleweight Yoel Romero, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, ex-UFC featherweight Chad Mendes and middleweight Paulo Costa.

Chandler wasn't a part of the aforementioned list of fighters who'd tested positive for a banned Performance Enhancing Drug (PED)/ steroid. However, his image was used as the thumbnail in the Instagram post.

Taking to the post's comments section, the UFC lightweight suggested that he's never failed a drug test but was still used as the cover photo in the post. He wrote:

"Hahah….they use me as the cover photo…but no negative tests…."

A screenshot of Michael Chandler's comment has been displayed below:

Screenshot of comment

Furthermore, in a now-deleted post on his own profile's Instagram Stories section, Chandler posted a screenshot of the Instagram post and highlighted that the Instagram handle had used his image as clickbait. 'Iron' wrote:

"You know you're doing something right when your pic is used for clickbait even though you have nothing to do with this list."

Check out a screenshot of Michael Chandler's now-deleted Instagram Stories post below:

Screenshot of post

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Michael Chandler signals start of training camp for potential Conor McGregor clash

Around the time of the 2024 New Year's Eve celebrations, former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor made an announcement that grabbed headlines in the combat sports realm. The MMA megastar, who's been on an injury hiatus since July 2021, asserted that he'll return against TUF 31 rival coach Michael Chandler in Las Vegas on June 29th, 2024.

Moreover, 'The Notorious' emphasized that their fight would be contested at middleweight. Meanwhile, the UFC hasn't officially announced the matchup's date, venue or weight class. Regardless, soon after McGregor's announcement, Michael Chandler took to X and implied that he's commenced his training camp for the possible fight. 'Iron' tweeted:

"In camp…woke up feeling dangerous."