“It made a lot of sense for them to fight someone else inside the top five” – Michael Chandler says two of the best lightweights declined to challenge him in his UFC debut

When he made his UFC debut in January 2021, Michael Chandler said he had two opponents in mind, but they both reportedly declined to take the fight.

Chandler alleged that previous interim lightweight champions Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier refused to accept him inside the octagon during a recent conversation with MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin. Instead, Chandler defeated Dan Hooker in his opening match with a stunning first-round knockout.

Ferguson and Chandler eventually engaged in combat at UFC 274 when “Iron” knocked out the 38-year-old with a powerful front kick. In November at UFC 281, Chandler is also anticipated to go up against Dustin Poirier.

When asked why Ferguson or Poirier declined to fight him for their UFC debut, Chandler suggested that it was because they preferred to go on “less hazardous” opponents instead:

 

“When I first came into the UFC, we asked two guys to fight, both turned down the fight. Number one was Tony Ferguson. I have now fought him and the other one was Dustin Poirier. Now I’m not implying that they turned down the fight because they were scared of me. I was a brand new guy coming in from outside the UFC so it made a lot of sense for them to fight someone else inside the top five, a little bit of a less risky fight.”

check out the interview here:

Michael Chandler says there will be “fireworks” when he potentially fights Dustin Poirier

Michael Chandler anticipates plenty of pyrotechnics in a hypothetical fight with Dustin Poirier. Chandler emphasised that he and Poirier have always been a part of exciting fights and will continue to do so if they ever share the octagon.

Chandler had this to say:

“If this fight gets booked and if it does, it’s gonna be fireworks because one thing you can’t say is that Dustin’s ever been in a boring fight or that I’ve ever been in a boring fight so there’s gonna be fireworks.”

With victories over Tony Ferguson and Dan Hooker and defeats to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, Chandler is currently 2-2 in the UFC. On the other hand, Poirier has triumphed in two of his past three bouts inside the octagon.

He defeated Conor McGregor twice by submission in 2021 and lost to Charles Oliveira through submission.

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