Dustin Poirier hates Michael Chandler, possibly to the same extent as Eric Cartman hates Kyle, Peter Griffin hates the Rooster, and how Dana White hates Francis Ngannou. But Chandler doesn’t seem to have gotten the message.
From excluding him from the lightweight veteran community a few months back to calling him a “dork” last week, Poirier would question whether the snow was white if it served the purpose of countering or questioning Chandler. And yet, somehow, Chandler thinks they are friends, with Poirier being oblivious to it.
In an interview with Helen Yee, Chandler said that maybe once Poirier calls it a day in the octagon and isn’t blinded by competition anymore, the two could join hands for other causes.
“Me and Poirier are friends he just does not know it yet. Maybe we can do a podcast together,” he suggested with glee. Naturally, the internet had a field day with fans roasting Chandler to the hilt.
“Well, in that case, me and Alexa Grasso are married. She just doesn’t know yet,” commented a user on Instagram. Another fan commented on Chandler’s incessant need to be liked by Poirier, saying, “Bro wants to be Dustin’s friend so bad.”
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“He wants to be one of the boys so badly,” the trolling continued. “Chandler seems like a nice guy but damn he is cringe af,” wrote one user, reflecting on a statement often reiterated on social media.
Poirier has not yet responded to Chandler’s comments. It’s unlikely he’s going to be a bastion of temperance about it either.
His beef with the fellow lightweight started when Chandler started talking trash about him after making his UFC debut in 2021. Prior to that, when Chandler was fighting in the Bellator, he apparently spoke to Poirier, exuding respect.
“A long time ago, I was at a Bellator event. He comes in at the back, ‘I just wanted to come over and shake your hand. I respect you so much, man. Your career has been awesome. You’ve had so many great fights, you’ve come back from adversity, so nice to meet you and finally shake your hand’,” Poirier had narrated once while explaining his long-standing issue with Chandler.
“Fast forward a year, two years, he makes it to the UFC. Now he’s talking trash on me. Then I saw him in Vegas,” he added.
On the sidelines of UFC 276 in Vegas in July 2022, Poirier confronted Chandler, saying, “You little b*tch… you’re a fake motherf**er, I will beat your a**.” And they did fight — at UFC 281 in November that year — where Poirier won by submission in the third round after an all-out war. The bad blood didn’t stop there.
Poirier accused Chandler of being a dirty fighter, claiming he blew blood into his eyes and even stuck fingers in his mouth to secure a choke. “I bit his fingers so hard,” Poirier admitted.
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Poirier’s hate for Chandler may seem excessive. But the former Bellator champion does have a history of fighting using less sporting means. And that has garnered hatred and criticism from various quarters.
In November last year at UFC 309, despite being dominated for five rounds, there was a brief moment when Chandler had Charles Oliveira on his knees.
However, unable to secure a dominant position, he ended up pummelling the Brazilian repeatedly on the back of his head. That’s an illegal move that the referee shockingly did not stop. However, it drew sharp criticism from his peers in the UFC and outside.
Now, as Chandler gears up for a fight against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 on April 12, his reputation of being a dirty fighter seems to have preceded him. But Pimblett doesn’t place the blame on Chandler entirely.
Paddy blames the ref
“It’s not on me, lad. It’s on the referee,” said Pimblett, when asked about the Chandler-Oliveira controversy during a Q&A session in London.
“I did watch that fight. He does hammer fist him about 12 times to the back of the head, and he knows what he’s doing! If I was in that position and I’m Charles, I’m saying ref, what are you doing here?” the 12th-ranked lightweight fighter added.
“Like that was some bad refereeing right there,” Pimblett reiterated. And Paddy isn’t too worried about the American. No, not just about the fish hooking, but more tellingly, Paddy isn’t even concerned about Chandler’s wrestling.
Claiming Chandler won’t even dare to take him down, Paddy said, “He’s explosive, and he’s going to try and take my head off… but I don’t think he’s going to shoot because he knows I’ll submit him.”
This is a huge opportunity for Pimblett. Should he win against Chandler, the lightweight prospect would have passed his first real test in the UFC. A win here would nicely line him up to be a top contender in the division in the coming years.
