Khama Worthy does not believe Michael Chandler has earned a UFC lightweight title shot in his sophomore appearance.
Chandler will fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 262. Worthy, who fights Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 260, was impressed with Chandler's knockout win over Dan Hooker at UFC 257; however, Worthy tells Fightful that lone performance should not justify a world championship fight.
"Let's be realistic. I'm 34. It takes five years to get to a world title at 155. Unless you're Michael Chandler and you just come in and fight once and you get a fucking world championship [shot]. I like Michael Chandler, don't get me wrong, but I think I'd knock Michael Chandler's fucking head off. I'm just gonna put that out there. He is a good fighter. He has phenomenal wrestling, sick kickboxing, but I don't think he's that good," Worthy said. "He did just get knocked out by a 4'4" 145-pound guy. I didn't forget about that. Fucking 'Pitbull' [Patricio Freire] is the size of my kid and he knocked him the fuck out. But, it's whatever."
"For the rest of the guys who have been building themselves up in the UFC. Look at Tony Ferguson. Look at Oliveira. Look at [Beneil] Dariush. There are guys who are building five or six-fight win streaks and they are nowhere close to a title shot," he continued. "It just takes time to get there. I don't really have five years to get there. I'm gonna get the most exciting fights as I can get, get as much money as I can and move on with it."
Worthy believes Dustin Poirier vs. Oliveria makes more sense for a vacant UFC lightweight title fight; however, he supports Poirier cashing in on a trilogy fight with Conor McGregor.
"That would be my approach if I was Dustin Poirier. Who gives a shit about having a world title? Daniel Cormier said it best. He said, 'You can't pay your mortgage with your world title.' Your objective can't be to get the world title. I would love the world title, but I'm already the best. I need to be able to take care of my family," Worthy explained. "My family thinks I'm the best. My daughter is two-and-a-half and she's going to think I'm the best fighter that ever walked the planet for the rest of her life. I need to make sure that they're financially stable. I don't need a piece of metal or plastic to tell me I'm the man. I know I'm the fucking man."
Worthy expects to keep fighting on a regular basis for four or five more years. Afterwards, he would consider reducing that schedule to one or two UFC fights annually if his contract is lucrative enough.
"Once it gets to the point where I can't really compete with these guys. I'll fight once or twice a year for $60,000/$60,000. I'll do that forever," he shared. "I'll be savvy enough that I won't be in there getting killed."
UFC 260 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, March 27. The pay-per-view card is headlined by a UFC heavyweight title rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. Keep up with Fightful for all your event-related coverage.
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