“Downright disrespect and dismissal,” Michael Chandler states reasons for brutal criticism of Dustin Poirier at UFC 269
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Dustin Poirier- Michael Chandler
In 2020, UFC Lightweight Michael Chandler was the most exciting sign of the UFC and it’s very safe to say that so far he has delivered as advertised. Chandler blasted into the top 5 rankings with his brutal first-round knockout of Dan Hooker at UFC 257, nearly swept away the champion Charles Oliveira’s gameplan before getting finished at UFC 262 and finally went on one of the greatest lightweight fights at UFC 268 against Justin Gaethje.
Chandler now looks for more big names like those in the past, possibly the money fights would work but someone who can get him closer to a second title shot as well would be a cherry on the top. At this point, it has to be the former two-time title challenger Dustin Poirier. Poirier last fought at UFC 269 where he lost his second opportunity to grab the 155-lbs title to reigning, defending lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
Michael Chandler tells his only regret to not fulfill while lashing out at Dustin Poirier at UFC 269
On MMA Fighting‘s MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Chandler talked about how and why he was digging at Poirier’s performance at UFC 269 and does he feel the same way nearly a month removed from it now. He then explains his own reasons for being that critical.
“I do feel the same way,” said Chandler. “When a choke goes in, it’s really up to the choked guy on whether he really gets finished… nobody knows how tight the choke is, I’ve been in some chokes where the entire arena is closing in and I somehow get out of it, I’ve never been submitted in my career… I think sometimes you’ve to be willing to go a little bit further.“
However, besides this, the main reason for his criticism was laid in some history. “The reason I was critical of Dustin Poirier has been his dismissal and just downright disrespect of me when I came into the UFC lightweight division,” said Chandler. “When I and Oliveira decided we were going to fight [for the title at UFC 262, after Poirier decided for trilogy against Conor McGregor], instead of just saying ‘hey I decided to fight Conor, let these guys fight for the title’, he called the title fool’s gold and I think that was the part of it.”
“My only regret was I didn’t write fool’s gold somewhere in the statement [on Twitter] because that was exactly what Dustin Poirier called,” Chandler concluded. What do you make of Chandler’s reasons for his beef against Poirier? Do you see them colliding against each other? Who do you think wins between the two?
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