Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler Nearly Finalized For UFC 281
Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler is close to being finalized for UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden on November 12, but not yet a 'done deal' as per Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
Poirier and Chandler have been in each other's crosshairs since Chandler made his UFC debut at UFC 257 in January of 2020. He sought out the Poirier fight immediately after, however, Dustin chose to have a trilogy with Conor McGregor instead.
Now in recent times, it has been the other way around with Poirier seeking a fight against Chandler. He has repeatedly taken to social media and interviews to call out 'Iron Mike.' His most recent headline involving Chandler happened at UFC 276 where Poirier initiated a verbal altercation in the stands, forcing security to intervene.
Chandler responded to the incident in an interview at UFC London last month. He explained that Dustin was simply trying to get a fight with him, but went about it the wrong way. This statement made it seem as though Chandler was still adamant about not fighting Poirier, but he later revealed that he had fight news and that it was "Probably Dustin Poirier."
Poirier's last fight was a 3rd round rear-naked choke loss to Charles Oliveira last year at UFC 269 for the Lightweight title. He also defeated Conor McGregor twice in 2020 and then 2021, first by knockout and then by TKO due to a doctor's stoppage.
Chandler, on the other hand, is riding the biggest win of his career after his last fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 274. He won the fight by KO via front kick in the 2nd round and is the front runner for Knockout of The Year.
Although it appeared doubtful as to whether we'd see these two fight, it seems that they will be given the chance to settle their grudge inside the octagon at UFC 281.
