In recent months, Dustin Poirier has been engaging in some social media jousting with former opponent Michael Chandler, who has now addressed the exchanges in a recent interview.
The pair met in the octagon back in 2022 at UFC 281, with Chandler being submitted in the 3rd round with a rear naked choke, a moment Poirier pointed to in one of his shots on X (Twitter).
Remember when I beat your ass? You are 2-4 in the ufc Muscle Milk Mike https://t.co/j6F1i1dV1n
— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) December 15, 2024
‘The Diamond’ is planned to have one more fight in the UFC before he steps away from the sport and into retirement, but the opponent has yet to be announced. Meanwhile, ‘Iron’ Mike is scheduled to face lightweight crowd favorite Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314 in April.
Chandler recently addressed the verbal sparring that has gone down between him and his former opponent, telling Zach Gelb that he believes he is in Poirier’s head.
“I don’t [have a reaction], and I don’t lose a wink of sleep thinking about Dustin Poirier and how he thinks about me,” Chandler said. “Unfortunately, obviously I live rent-free in his head, and he does lose sleep over me so I don’t think about it.”
“I’ll tell you what, man, I would definitely welcome me being Dustin’s retirement fight,” Chandler said. “He’s a legend — and I say that because he’s a legend. It’s not like I want to get back the loss, or it’s not because I have any kind of animosity. I don’t want to fight him because of the disagreements that we’ve had, I just want to fight him because he’s a legend, and I would.”
(h/t MMAFighting)