Dustin Poirier was not amused by Michael Chandler’s recent Lightweight title tease.
It’s been a hot minute since we last saw Chandler compete in the Octagon. The former three-time Bellator champion emerged in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) looking for “a good time, not a long time.” He delivered exactly that in his first five appearances to go 2-3 (23-8).
Unfortunately for Chandler and fight fans around the globe, “Iron” has been sidelined for nearly two full years waiting for his dream Conor McGregor match up. Poirier was Chandler’s last opponent when the pair met at UFC 281 in November 2022. The fight resulted in Chandler’s only career loss by submission as “The Diamond” secured a third round rear-naked choke (watch highlights). Despite Chandler’s absence and recent record, he aimed at the current champion, Islam Makhachev, along with some shots at Poirier last week (Mon., July 1, 2024), telling the latter to retire and “we good.”
“Who the f*ck is ‘we?!’” Poirier reacted on The MMA Hour. “You just go here, buddy. You’re not one of us. You’re not ‘we.’ I’ve been here. ‘We’re good.’ Who’s we? Welcome to the UFC, dude. You’ve got one win in the UFC.
“He’s not one of us,” he continued. “I’ve been cutting my teeth in the UFC since January of 2011, 2010. He just got here. Who is we? He’s speaking for the lightweight division? ‘Muscle Milk Mike’ needs to chill.”
Chandler, 38, has appeared to loosen up his tight grip on the idea of facing McGregor after the bout fell through for UFC 303 last month (June 29, 2024). Mentions of the Baddest Motherf*cker (BMF) champion, Max Holloway, and the aforementioned Makhachev have been the others catching Chandler’s eye. Then there’s Nate Diaz after his recent boxing win over Jorge Masvidal (watch highlights).
Ultimately, any fight will be a big risk for Chandler if he goes away from his McGregor holdout. Poirier knows that better than anyone, having fought “The Notorious” thrice (2-1 in the series), the most times either have fought a single opponent.
“He’s risking the chance of losing the fight if it ever materializes,” Poirier said. “But if he goes in there and loses to someone else, do they give him that Conor shot again? If he takes another fight does Conor move on and take a different fight as well?
“The payoff of beating Conor McGregor, financially and just for your career, is worth the wait,” he continued. “But if you never get it, you’re wasting a lot of years and you’re not a young man. These years are very important.
“I don’t know the way he is,” Poirier added. “I’m sure he’s got intelligent people around him helping him with his deals. I don’t know the way his contract is structured, but if it does happen and he did the right thing on the backend, he’s going to be paid and set his family up. But if it doesn’t, you’re wasting a lot of years and in this game, we get old quick. You leave for two years — and I don’t know how old he is, 36? 37? You leave for two years and come back, you could look like a different person. But only he knows.”