UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler has suggested Dustin Poirier should sit out and wait for a fourth fight against Conor McGregor.
Poirier was last in action at UFC 264 last month. In one of the most highly anticipated trilogy fights in history, “The Diamond” secured his second victory of the year over McGregor.
After looking the sharper of the two on the feet, Poirier dominated the majority of the round on the ground after the Irishman took the fight to the canvas with an attempted guillotine choke. With seconds of the first frame remaining, McGregor suffered a horrific broken left leg and the bout came to an anti-climactic end.
While many expect Poirier to fight Charles Oliveira for the 155-pound gold next, Chandler believes he’d be better off waiting for another meeting with McGregor once the former two-division champion returns in 2022.
While speaking with Helen Yee during UFC 265 fight week, the former three-time Bellator Lightweight Champion revealed that if McGregor had spoken about his own wife and children like he did leading up to and after his fight with Poirier, he’d be waiting for another date with the controversial star inside the Octagon.
“Man, if I’m Dustin Poirier, I’m just waiting for Conor 4. I am…if Poirier goes and wins the title, can Conor come right back and fight Poirier if he has the title? Crazier things have happened. So if I’m Poirier, I’m just waiting out and waiting for Conor 4, especially after he said numerous things about my wife and my kids and killing me, all that kind of stuff. But I also know…and this is a testament to Poirier as a competitor, he wants to win the ultimate prize in mixed martial arts. He’s been an interim champion, but he hasn’t full-fledged, 100% undisputed champion. So I think the competitor in him will go fight Charles Oliveira.”
Having admitted that Poirier is likely to be Oliveira’s first title defense, Chandler, who was beaten by “Do Bronx” in their clash for the vacant belt at UFC 262, expects the Louisianan to dethrone the Brazilian.
“I think they’re both well-rounded. I think Poirier’s got a little bit more of kind of that dog in him, when the fight gets in the thick of it…obviously, Charles Oliveira beat me in the second round, very soon into the second round, so we didn’t really see a lot of longevity in a fight like that. We saw him go through rounds with Tony Ferguson, but that was muchly a one-sided affair. I think a fight with Dustin Poirier, he puts hands on him pretty solidly those first couple rounds and kinda starts to put it on Charles. I think Poirier wins that fight by third-, fourth-round finish. If they do go all five, Poirier wins the decision.”
While Poirier aims to hold the undisputed gold for the first time, two other former title challengers are looking to rebound in style and stake their claim for another championship opportunity.
Chandler looks set to face fellow top-five lightweight Justin Gaethje, who was defeated by the great Khabib Nurmagomedov in his last outing, at UFC 268 in November. A recent exchange the pair had during the UFC 265 live weigh-in show has only made this battle more intriguing.
Do you think Dustin Poirier should wait for a fourth fight with Conor McGregor like Michael Chandler suggests?
