Dustin Poirier fought Michael Chandler in a heated back-and forth, but it was UFC 281.’s one-time interim lightweight champ who won the fight.
Wild exchanges on the feet and several near finishes eventually led to a slick reversal from Poirier after Chandler was attempting to slam him to the ground. After Poirier grabbed Chandler’s arm, he began to work for a rear-naked choke.
Eventually, Poirier secured his arm under the chin, locked up the hold and a second later Chandler was forced tap out with the end coming at 2:00 into the third and final round.
“I was surprised I got the hook across his body,” Poirier said about the finish. He’s explosive, as I’ve witnessed him in the past. His durability was more impressive than I expected. He was a little more durable than I expected. Who ain’t got jiu-jitsu?”
Chandler, an offensive juggernaut and a juggernaut of the corner, was immediately on the attack when he saw Poirier from the corner. He swarmed Poirier using a series of kicks as well as constantly trying to support him against the cage. At one point, Chandler had Poirier trapped as he began unloading a barrage of punches with Poirier getting tagged by shots in succession.
Poirier was able to survive and re-set as he tried to improve his boxing skills while tagging Chandler with some good timing jabs from outside. Soon, Chandler began charging forward and throwing more bombs to try to get Poirier out.
That led to a takedown from Chandler but the move actually allowed Poirier enough time to recover before the fight got back to the feet. That’s when Poirier started landing on Chandler as he cracked the former Bellator champion with a huge right hook that changed the momentum in the feet.
Poirier was just seconds from scoring a knockout. He kept throwing punches and teeing, but Chandler wouldn’t stop until the horn went off.
With his face dripping blood, Chandler changed his plan and used his wrestling skills to knock Poirier down. Chandler was quick to advance to take the back as he looked to lock on a rear-naked choke but Poirier continued to resist while surviving the submission attempts.
After the fight was over, Poirier revealed that Chandler allegedly committed a foul during that grappling exchange but the referee didn’t catch it in time to prevent it from happening again.
“He put his fingers into my mouth in order to make a rear-naked choke,” Poirier stated. “I was telling him come on, dude.”
When the third round began, Chandler’s speed slowed down as his gas tank ran out of fuel. However, he managed to propel himself forward to a takedown and lift Poirier up into the air. Both men crashed back down. The momentum changed for the final time when Chandler was unable to control Poirier.
Poirier quickly leapt on to Chandler’s back and locked onto the choke. Chandler was forced to choose between submission or going to bed.
Following a disappointing loss in his most recent bid to become undisputed UFC lightweight champion, Poirier returns to the win column with a convince performance over Chandler as he remains a constant threat to anybody near the top of the rankings at 155 pounds.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/11/12/23455736/ufc-281-results-dustin-poirier-taps-out-michael-chandler-with-rear-naked-choke-after-wild-bloody-war?rand=96749
