Got Beef? Michael Chandler Responds to Dustin Poirier

Poirier Makes Some Bold Statements on Chandler

After knocking out Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 last month, Chandler called out Conor McGregor and the winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje, which was Oliveira by submission in the first round, leaving out Poirier in his post-fight call outs.

Speaking to Teddy Atlas on “The Fight with Teddy Atlas,” Poirier made some bold statements concerning fellow Top Five Lightweight-Chandler.

Poirier admitted he was surprised to be left out from a Chandler vs Poirier call out. Poirier followed up by saying if either he or McGregor were to fight him, he thinks their power would be too much for Chandler.

“I’m a dangerous fight for him, I think I’m a clean puncher, accurate. He called out Conor, I think Conor is a dangerous fight for him too.” Poirier explained “I’m not saying Chandler is ‘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 Oliveira, guys like me, guys like Conor, if we touch your chin, it’s going to be bad.”

Before knocking out Ferguson, Chandler had been dropped by Ferguson in the first round and bounced back by scoring the stunning knockout in the following round. Poirier explained why he thinks Chandler tends to get himself into trouble.

“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.” Poirier went further to say “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 will run into big shots. You jump in, you get carried out.”

Chandler Responds

“Step into my office and Shhhhhh…”

Taking to Twitter, Chandler responded in a video, “I heard what you said. Listen 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!”

Chandler (23-7 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has been in nothing but fan-favorite fights and moments since joining the UFC. Making his UFC debut, Chandler defeated Dan Hooker by TKO in the first round at UFC 257. Following the win, Chandler lost two straight-losing to Oliveira by knockout in the second round for the vacated Lightweight Title at UFC 262 and then co-producing an absolute war with Gaethje at UFC 268, losing to “The Highlight” by decision. Chandler bounced back with a knockout win over Ferguson last month.

The always exciting Poirier (28-7-1 MMA, 20-6-1 UFC) following his back-to-back wins over McGregor, was last seen in the octagon at UFC 269 in December of 2021, losing to Oliveira by submission in the third round of their title fight.

What do you make of the exchange between Poirier and Chandler? If the two top 5 lightweights were to meet in the cage, who would you favor? Let us know in the comments!

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