Michael Chandler is not having any of these PED accusations.
Former Bellator lightweight champion Chandler is the backup for the UFC 254 main event between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje. There have been multiple accusations of PED usage levied as Chandler in the past and Chandler is ready to get tested to prove everybody wrong.
?Here I am now taking a fight, October 24 possibly, which is 11 weeks removed from my previous fight [against Benson Henderson],? Chandler told ESPN?s Brett Okamoto (via Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock MMA). ?So it wasn?t like I?m coming into the UFC and saying, ?hey guys, I need a year. Give me a year before I step into the cage.? No, test me now. Test me ASAP. So I don?t need time. I?m excited about that. To lay that to rest, I?m excited to be a year clean, two years, three years, four years ? you?re not going to hear me say anything about it. I?m just going to quietly, silently continue to do my hard work, supplement correctly, live a champion lifestyle and expand people?s minds about what the human body is capable of."
"I realized long ago I was put into this sport to expand people?s view of the human condition, the human spirit, what the human body is capable of," he continued. "Now you got to remember, this is Joe Schmo who is a car mechanic telling me I?m on PEDs because he lifts two days a week at 24 Hour Fitness. Well, listen Joe. I?ve been doing this for two decades now, training twice a day, 360 days a year, having access to world class healthcare, opportunities, science because my body has been my vehicle, my vessel in which I feed my family. So if I look a certain way, it?s because of hard work. The great thing is I get to prove that now. I am very, very happy that the UFC implemented USADA and as soon as they did, I?ve been chomping at the bit and I said I can?t wait to get into that testing pool and here we are.?
Chandler never failed a drug test during his decade-plus run in Bellator.
UFC 254 takes place on Saturday, October 24 from Fight Island in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
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