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Michael Chandler recently shared insights into his training and career longevity. He revealed how his evolving training approach and strict discipline have helped him remain at a high level. Chandler, 39, began his professional MMA in 2009, only months after finishing his collegiate wrestling career. In 2010, ‘Iron’ joined Bellator, where he spent most of his career. There, he became a three-time lightweight champion and earned wins over notable opponents like Eddie Alvarez and Benson Henderson. After a successful Bellator tenure, Chandler signed with the UFC in 2020. Despite an uneven win-loss record, he has fought in several high-profile bouts that fans still talk about. In an exclusive interview with Heavy Sports, Chandler shared that his training has changed as he has aged. He explained that while he still trains hard, he now focuses on recovery and smarter preparation. “[My training has] changed a little bit in the sense that I still work extremely hard, but I do focus a little bit more on recovery and working smarter, not harder,” Chandler said. “If you’re not putting as many intense hours because you want to preserve the body, you got to be more disciplined with your supplementation and your sleep, and in your recovery.” Chandler added that as he grows older, discipline has become a key factor: “As I’ve aged and gotten older, my discipline levels have gone up. Even if sometimes the workload goes down in order to preserve the body in training smart.” Michael Chandler Explains the Importance of Making Weight Michael Chandler also spoke about the importance of professionalism and keeping promises. Whether competing in the UFC or during his Bellator run, he has never missed weight or withdrawn from a fight. He considers reliability one of his strongest traits as a fighter. Chandler has discussed before how much weight he typically cuts to make the lightweight limit. To him, showing up and making weight under any condition builds trust with fans and promoters. That dependability has played a huge role in keeping his career strong and given him more opportunities. “I’m just a man of my word in every sense of the word and every aspect of the word,” Chandler told Heavy Sports. “I’ve never pulled out of a fight and I’ve never missed weight, and I don’t plan on doing that ever in my entire career “It’s something that’s very important to me.” Chandler Credits Professionalism with A Long MMA Career Chandler credited his professionalism and consistency for his career longevity. Whether opening a main card or headlining an event, he approaches every fight with the same focus. Chandler explained that every action and how a fighter conducts themself shapes their reputation in the sport. The UFC lightweight emphasized that once a fighter signs a bout agreement, they commit to honoring every part of it. “It blows my mind that you would sign your name to a contract and then not fulfil said contract,” Chandler told Heavy Sports. “I want to be a guy that’s a man of my word because if your word is no good, then eventually you are good, and I’ve lived by that the last couple of decades.”
