Lightweight standouts Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier had a heated confrontation at tonight’s UFC 276 event in Las Vegas.
As seen in the video footage below courtesy of UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns, Chandler and Poirier crossed paths earlier this evening at T-Mobile Arena.
https://twitter.com/GilbertDurinho/status/1543415894587482112
Michael Chandler (23-7 MMA) is coming off a brutal second round knockout victory over Tony Ferguson in his most recent effort at UFC 274. That win was preceded by back-to-back losses to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira respectively.
Meanwhile, Dustin Poirier (28-7 MMA) has not competed since suffering a third round submission loss to Charles Oliveira at December’s UFC 269 event. That setback had snapped a three-fight losing skid for ‘The Diamond’.
During his recent appearance on ‘The Fight with Teddy Atlas’, Dustin Poirier criticized Michael Chandler with the following remarks:
“I’m a dangerous fight for him (Chandler). I think I’m a clean puncher, accurate. He called out Conor. I think Conor is a dangerous fight for him, too. I’m not saying Chandler’s chinny or anything, but he gets hurt in a lot of his fights, and guys like Conor, they can punch. If you’re getting hurt by Tony Ferguson and dropped by (Charles) Oliveira, guys like me, guys like Conor, if we touch your chin, it’s gonna be bad.”
Continuing, Dustin Poirier commented on why Michael Chandler continues to get hurt in fights:
“That’s the reason he gets hurt in these fights, because you can’t have an offense and a defense, and he’s all offense. Jumping forward, lunging forward, and you know what they say, when your feet leave the ground in boxing, you get carried out. Jumping around, throwing punches in the air, you can’t pivot, you can’t move, you’ll run into big shots. You jump in, you get carried out.”
Apparently these comments did not sit well with Chandler and he took to ‘Instagram’ with a message for Poirier:
“I heard what you said. Nobody gives a rip about your wannabe, ‘don’t make sense lost your shine so you’re trying to steal everybody else’s shine’ backdoor MMA math. Zip it.”
Would you like to see Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier duke it out inside of the Octagon? Who do you think would win?