Michael Chandler made sure he mentioned several names in his UFC 274 post-fight interviews this past weekend (Sat., May 7, 2022), but one, in particular, was left out.
Currently ranked No. 5 within the Lightweight ranks, the former three-time Bellator titleholder picked up his second career UFC victory when scoring a highlight-reel knockout for the ages. Facing former UFC interim titlist, Tony Ferguson, Chandler connected cleanly with a violent front kick to the chin just 17 seconds into the round two of their bout (watch highlights).
Chandler passionately took to the microphone following the win to make his case for either a title rematch against Charles Oliveira or a showdown with “The Notorious” Conor McGregor. Shortly after, Nate Diaz would throw his name into the hat along with No. 2-ranked Dustin Poirier. However, Chandler admits he isn’t too keen on the idea of facing “The Diamond.”
“[Nate] Diaz,” Chandler responded on The MMA Hour when asked who he’d rather fight next between Diaz and Poirier. “I have no interest in fighting Dustin, honestly. I got asked the other day who do I see being the champion if it wasn’t me and I completely forgot about him. To be quite honest, man, I think he’s a great dude, I think I like him for the sport but I also think I was completely disregarded and pushed aside whenever I came into the organization. He completely disregarded me, completely acted as though I didn’t deserve to be where I was. So maybe it’s a little bit more of a personal issue but I also don’t think Dustin — is Dustin a draw? I guess he is the No. 2 guy ranked now. But he’s just kinda stayed at No. 2 and I don’t know how active he’s gonna be. I did see that he tweeted I was saying everybody else’s name but his as if I maybe didn’t want to fight him because of technical reasons or whatnot. That was more just I forgot about him, to be honest with you.
“Hats off to him for what he’s done in his career and I respect the heck out of him, he makes some great hot sauce, but as of right now, I don’t really have a desire to fight him,” he concluded.
Like Chandler, Poirier too has suffered a recent title fight defeat to the now-former champion Oliveira. Last competing at UFC 269 in Dec. 2021, Poirier succumbed to a third-round rear-naked choke submission (watch highlights), the exact same fashion in which he lost his first career undisputed title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov three years prior (watch highlights).