Dustin Poirier might not be Michael Chandler’s first choice for his next opponent, but he knows he doesn’t have many other options.
The UFC lightweight competitor — No. 6 at 155 pounds in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings — spoke to the media backstage at UFC London on Saturday and he broke down his current bout prospects, which have been narrowed down with fellow contenders Charles Oliveira, Islam Makhachev, and Beneil Dariush booking fights.
Chandler told TMZ Sports earlier this week that a fight with injured superstar Conor McGregor is inevitable, but Poirier could be next.
“As of right now, me and Poirier are the only guys that are not matched up inside the top 5,” Chandler said. It’s not secret that Dustin Poirier has been in a collision with me to get inside the Octagon. Beneil Dariush just got matched up. Obviously, Islam and Charles are fighting. [Justin] Gaethje’s out with a nose surgery and I just fought Gaethje two fights ago. Conor McGregor is being called out by everyone. I know I did. But I called him out respectfully. “Hey Conor,” I said to him, “Whenever you’re ready for a return, whenever your leg is percent healed, when you feel comfortable.” However, we must see Conor McGregor healthy inside the Octagon. We won’t have to hurry him back.
“So I’m not waiting. You’ll hear fight news very soon, and I believe it will be Dustin Poirier and me. We’ll see.”
MMA Fighting’s Steven Marrocco reached out to Poirier for comment, and Poirier said he has no knowledge of the bout becoming official anytime soon.
” The golden boy may know more than me,” Poirier said in a text.
There was a heated exchange between Chandler and Porier at UFC 276.. The incident was captured on video at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. Security had to seperate the pair. Chandler claims that Poirier started the fight.
” I walked down that path with my wife. As we were sitting in our chairs, security guards approached us and said, “Hey, no, he won’t sit there,”” Chandler stated. “I was thinking, ‘OK that sounds interesting.’ Then I suddenly heard some horrible venom being spit at me. I didn’t know if that was being thrown at me or not. Dustin Poirier points at me as I turn around. Dustin Poirier clearly had something to say with me that evening, Dustin. It’s no secret. He’s made it very known that he’s ready for a fight.
“He’s thirsty. He is very, very hungry for a fight. He’s searching for anyone and everyone to hurl venom at. I was the target that night and I was just trying to watch some fights with my wife. You think this is the only way you can get a fight against me. I’m not here to be in physical altercations in a public forum, especially with my wife [there]. He was definitely not pleased with me the night .”
Chandler has gone 2-2 since joining the UFC in January 2021. The three-time Bellator lightweight champion has already fought Oliveira for a vacant UFC title and he remained in contention with a Knockout of the Year candidate of Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 this past May.
Poirier was a former interim champion lightweight and, while Chandler wants to fight him in the ring, he sees Poirier as more of a tool to achieve his goals than someone to beat.
” I think that mixed martial arts careers can be fraught with confusion,” Chandler stated. It doesn’t really matter who is the No. 1 guy in the world or the No. 100 confusion is possible.
“He’s clearly got some hatred for me in his head and that will make it easier to beat him every time he steps into the octagon. Dustin Poirier is not a concern of mine. I will continue to do my normal work until the fight announcement. Then, I will go out and take down my next opponent to become UFC champion .”
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When Chandler was asked if he felt annoyed at Poirier’s behaviour, Chandler said that it is strange to him because they appear to be in different phases of their careers. He hopes that their future interactions will be civil, until Poirier has to actually fight.
” I honestly believed that Beneil Dariush was on a win streak, and that he had been in a No. 1 contender fight with him and Islam before he got injured,” Chandler said. “That was the fight that I thought I would like to have to get me more toward the title than a guy like Dustin who’s talking about retiring. He might have one foot out the door. He’s talking about going up to 170, he’s got one foot out the door at 155. Does he still have that itch that we all have? We all want to be champion, he’s just maybe trying to collect a paycheck. We don’t know. It was certainly eye-rolling.
“No. 1, be a professional. Be a professional. We fight in a cage for money. To prove you are a strong man, we don’t have to fight in front our wives and the T-Mobile Arena fans. Maybe he drank a little bit more hot sauce that night than he should have, but here we are. He didn’t want me to fight him, so I looked at him with a skewed eye. If I have to fight him, if I end up fighting him, he’s going to get knocked out.”
Watch Chandler fight in the UFC London division, via The Mac Life :
