Top UFC lightweight fighter Michael Chandler believes Dustin Poirier should ignore the chance of a title shot and wait for a fourth fight against Conor McGregor.
Following his win over McGregor at UFC 264, Poirier is next in line to fight UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira. The UFC 264 success made it two wins for Poirier over Mcgregor in 2021, having also defeated him at UFC 254 in January.
Poirier passed up a vacant UFC lightweight title shot earlier this year, favouring the prospect of a trilogy with McGregor. Chandler himself ended up fighting Oliveira for the title back in May, with Oliveira winning by second round stoppage.
And Chandler thinks Poirier should pass up a title shot again to take a fourth fight with the Irishman.
Man, if I’m Dustin Poirier, I’m just waiting for Conor 4. If Poirier goes and wins the title, can Conor come right back and fight Poirier if he has the title? Crazier things have happened," Chandler told Helen Yee.
So if I’m Poirier, I’m just waiting out and waiting for Conor 4, especially after he said numerous things about my wife and my kids and killing me, all that kind of stuff.
“But I also know and this is a testament to Poirier as a competitor, he wants to win the ultimate prize in mixed martial arts. He’s been an interim champion, but he hasn’t full-fledged, 100 percent undisputed champion.
"So I think the competitor in him will go fight Charles Oliveira, but there’s an inkling, there’s a part of me that says (he) might as well wait out and get the big money fight in Conor.”
Chandler was linked to a fight with Justin Gaethje at UFC 268 in New York. But that fight is now in jeopardy after new Covid-19 vaccination mandates in New York City.
And on a fight between Poirier and Oliveira, Chandler thinks that Poirier has more fight in him and would eventually finish "Do Bronx" in the later rounds or win a decision.
"I think Poirier’s got a little bit more of kind of that dog in him. When the fight gets in the thick of it – obviously Charles Oliveira beat me in the second round, very soon into the second round, so we didn’t really see a lot of longevity in a fight like that" he continued.
“We saw him [Oliveira] go through rounds with Tony Ferguson, but that was muchly a one-sided affair. I think a fight with Dustin Poirier, he puts hands on him pretty solidly those first couple rounds and kinda starts to put it on Charles.
"I think Poirier wins that fight by third, fourth-round finish. If they do go all five, Poirier wins the decision.”
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