UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall recognizes flaws when he sees them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The same goes for Michael Chandler, who has struggled immensely throughout his UFC career with a 2-5 mark. Aspinall was openly critical of Chandler\u2019s gameplan, which got back to \u201cIron.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chandler lost to Paddy Pimblett in an underwhelming affair, which drew criticism from Aspinall following the UFC 314 fight back in April in Miami.<\/p>\n
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Nov 11, 2023; New York, NY, USA; Tom Aspinall (blue gloves) reacts to beating Sergei Pavlovich (red gloves) during UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images \/ Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bad fight IQ,\u201d Aspinall said in a recent YouTube video. \u201cIt\u2019s weird because he\u2019s obviously a really fit guy, but if you do a sprint for five minutes, no one\u2019s going to be fit, are they? He just goes out there, he throws from here, swinging, everything he does is picking up full blast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aspinall says, given Chandler\u2019s career has commenced in storied promotions like Bellator, it\u2019s baffling to him how many holes his MMA toolbox has.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s mad for someone who has that many fights, I\u2019m just surprised,\u201d Aspinall said.<\/p>\n
Aspinall said he was uber confident Pimblett would walk away victorious with little issue, too. Chandler failed to finish Charles Oliveira last November, giving Aspinall more confidence Chandler would struggle against Pimblett, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was watching him thinking, \u2018There\u2019s no way Paddy loses to this guy,\u2019\u201d Aspinall said. \u201cI know a lot of people were saying online, \u2018He\u2019s a tough fight for Paddy.\u2019 I thought, \u2018Easy fight for Paddy.\u2019 And it was pretty easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Conor McGregor UFC testing records raise questions about comeback<\/a><\/p>\n Apr 12, 2025; Miami, Florida, UNITED STATES; Michael Chandler (red gloves) fights against Paddy Pimblett (blue gloves) during UFC 314 at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images \/ Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Chandler took to social media to respond to Aspinall, openly criticizing the champion for not being able to fight Jon Jones who is still widely regarded as one of the best ever.<\/p>\n \u201cDidn\u2019t that big goober say this like 3 years ago? And then waited as long for Jon as I did for Conor after he criticized me for waiting for Conor? Cool,\u201d Chandler wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n Nevertheless, it\u2019s clear the two don\u2019t see eye-to-eye and likely never will, regardless of how suspect Chandler\u2019s fight IQ may seem at times.<\/p>\n Stick with\u00a0MMAKnockout<\/a>\u00a0for more\u00a0FREE coverage\u00a0of the UFC, MMA, Boxing. Follow MMAKnockout on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n