Light Weight Princes of Violence – Poirier vs. Chandler Booked for UFC 281

Overtime Heroics Editorial

306 days ago

After being shelved for the majority of 2022, after what can only be described as the best year of his career, Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier finally has a fight booked, against one of the Crown Princes of Violence himself, “Iron” Michael Chandler. The bout will go down as the Co-Main at UFC 281, live from Madison Square Garden on November 12th at the company’s annual MSG PPV. Many believe that the Poirier bout was being used as leverage against Nate Diaz to persuade the Stockton Native to resign with the promotion.

Michael Chandler has been on somewhat of a hiatus himself, seemingly unable to get a fight, despite begging for one on multiple times on Twitter. As recently as July 2nd, he advised uncrowned champ, Charles Oliveira, to await Conor McGregor"s long return, and offered to “keep the division warm" for the Brazilian. “Iron" Mike is the consensus favorite to be Conor McGregor"s opponent on his return, but a win here could put either man right back into title contention.

. @CharlesDoBronxs if I were you I’d wait for Conor in January too… I’ll keep the division warm while you’re chasing him…

— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) July 2, 2022

At Last, Princes of Violence Collide with Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler (23-7, 2-2 UFC) has delivered nothing but spectacular fights in his UFC run, as well as countless barn burners during his time in Bellator, including defeating former Bellator and UFC Lightweight Champion, Eddie Alvarez for the Bellator Lightweight Title, a belt he would hold three times before joining the UFC. Since joining the UFC, Chandler has received three performance bonuses in four fights, including his Fight of the Year against Justin Gaethje at UFC 268.

Dustin Poirier (28-7, 20-6 UFC) shares those two common opponents, having suffered an NC due to an unintentional foul to Eddie Alvarez in a back-and-forth war in 2017. The two would run it back a year later, with Poirier finishing “The Underground King" in R2 via TKO. He also won Fight of the Night Honors against Justin Gaehtje when the two fought in 2018, when the Louisiana native finished “the Highlight" in R4, in what would be one of the first examples of Gaethje"s gas tank running flat.

The Four Princes Of Violence

This violence-quadrangle of men has provided nothing but the fight of the year potential when they face each other, so it understandably has the fan base practically vibrating to find out the answer to Eddie Alvarez"s half-decade-old question of who is the most violent man in the UFC.