In our exclusive interview with Dustin Poirier, the former UFC interim lightweight champion goes over his attritional UFC 281 match with Michael Chandler.
The UFC’s former interim lightweight champion, Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier, just sat down for an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow and ‘The Diamond’ touched on a number of subjects, both typical and controversial.
In this segment of the interview, we discuss Dustin’s UFC 281 submission victory over Michael Chandler last November. “The Diamond” talks about being satisfied with the win, but also admits that finishing Chandler was the goal. It was a knockout that he was after, and didn’t expect to catch Chandler in a rear-naked choke, but did concede that Michael was a lot more durable than he expected.
There were some hard fouls committed by Chandler in the matchup, including some nasty fish hooking and illegal punches to the back of the head. When asked about it, Chandler gave somewhat of a non apology, deferring to the referee. When asked about that, Dustin frankly disclosed that he doesn’t care about an apology, because all he wants is honesty.
Eddie Mercado: For your last fight at UFC 281, you were in a banger with Michael Chandler that won Fight of the Night honors. Chandler was a little, let’s say too game at times, and committed several fouls. I never knew that Michael even had a neck, but you managed to find it, and then submitted him with a rear-naked choke in the third round. Was getting the finish a little more satisfying considering all of the fouls?
Dustin Poirier: Just getting the win in general, but finishing him was the goal. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to submit him. I knew I had the capabilities to do it, but I thought I was going to knock him out. I really did. When I went to sleep at night, every night during training camp, I really felt like I was going to clip this guy and hurt him and get him out of there.
And I did. You know I hurt him, but I just couldn’t get him out of there. He was tougher than I thought. I seen him hurt in past fights, and I just thought in my mind, like if that happens I’m going to get him out of there. He was little more durable than I expected him to be.
EM: What did you think of Chandler’s sort of non apology, deferring to refs for all of his fouls?
DP: I don’t want an apology. It doesn’t mean anything to me. I just want you to be honest, you know?
About the author: Eddie Mercado has covered combat sports since 2015. He covers everything from betting odds to live events and fighter interviews. He holds a 1-0 record in pro MMA and holds a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. (full bio)