UFC lightweight Michael Chandler was less than impressed with Dustin Poirier’s prediction for a Chandler-McGregor fight. Poirier told Teddy Atlas that both he and McGregor would be a terrible matchup for Michael Chandler, which the former Bellator champ took serious offense to. On Instagram, Chandler ripped Dustin’s “backdoor MMA math”.
“I heard what you said. 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 Blasts Poirier’s “backdoor MMA math” on McGregor Matchup
Michael Chandler is hot property coming off his front-kick knockout win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274. The shine from Dustin Poirier’s two consecutive victories over Conor McGregor has been somewhat dulled by his submission loss to champion Charles Oliveira, but Poirier still knows a thing or two more than most about the depth of competition in the UFC lightweight division.
“I’m a dangerous fight for [Chandler]. I think I’m a clean puncher, accurate. He called out Conor. I think Conor is a dangerous fight for him, too. I’m not saying Chandler’s 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 gonna be bad. 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.
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’ll run into big shots. You jump in, you get carried out.”
Chandler’s two losses in the UFC came against Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje. Admittedly, his victory over Tony Ferguson came at what seems to be the tail end of Ferguson’s career, but his post-fight interview saw Chandler screaming into the mic, demanding a fight with Conor McGregor.
McGregor, for his part, seems to be close to recovering from the leg he broke fighting Dustin Poirier last July. Whether Conor returns to the lightweight division or pursues welterweight glory remains to be seen, but Chandler appears to be happy to fight Conor at any weight.
Do you agree with Dustin Poirier? Is Michael Chandler more strategic than he realizes? Let us know in the comments.
