Michael Chandler expects Dustin Poirier fight announcement to come soon, anticipates ill-will to play a factor: “It’s gonna make it that much easier to knock him out”

By Cole Shelton - July 25, 2022

Michael Chandler believes the next time he makes the walk to the Octagon, Dustin Poirier will be staring across him.

Michael Chandler

Chandler and Poirier have been linked to a fight ever since the former Bellator lightweight champion signed with the UFC. However, it hasn’t come to fruition yet, but at UFC 276, the two had a verbal altercation and Chandler believes that fight makes sense to make.

“As of right now, me and Poirier are the only guys that are not matched up inside the top five,” Chandler said backstage at UFC London (h/t MMAJunkie). “There’s no secret Dustin Poirier and I have been on a collision course to stepping inside the Octagon. I’m not waiting. I think you’re gonna hear some fight news coming soon and it could be me and Dustin Poirier. We’ll see.”

If Michael Chandler vs. Dustin Poirier gets made, it would be a massive fight and a very fun fight for the fans.

Michael Chandler, UFC, Black History Month

Image Credit: @ufc on Twitter

The lead-up to Chandler vs. Poirier will be intense as the two clearly don’t like one another. For Chandler, he says that will make KO’ing Poirier that much better.

“In his mind, he’s got some ill-will towards me if you will and it’s gonna make it that much easier to knock him out whenever he oversteps if he and I do step inside the Octagon, but I have not lost one minute of sleep thinking about Dustin Poirier, and I’m gonna keep on doing what I’m doing until the fight gets announced and then I’m gonna go out there and finish my next opponent and become UFC champion next year…,” Chandler said.

“It’s gonna be fun for you guys, it’s gonna be fun for me, it’s gonna be not fun for my wife,” Chandler later added. “But I do think he and I are cut from the same cloth. All personal attacks aside, all personal vendettas aside, I respect him, he respects me.”

Who do you think will win, Michael Chandler or Dustin Poirier?