Getty Dustin Poirier
Former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier finally broke his silence on the incident that took place with Michael Chandler at UFC 276 on July 2.
Both top-ranked 155-pound fighters were in attendance for the International Fight Week show, and they got into a verbal altercation Octagonside.
UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns managed to capture the dispute on camera before Poirier and Chandler were separated, and it can be watched below via the embedded tweet:
In the video, Poirier can be heard calling Chandler a “fake” and that he was going to “f****” him up.
The next day, Chandler shared a quick thought on his tiff with “The Diamond,” tweeting: “Keep your cool, be a professional, especially in public. Your insecurities are showing (diamond emoji).”
Well, Poirier spoke on the incident during an appearance on this week’s “DC & RC” ESPN show. The fighter didn’t reveal what he said to Chandler, just that he told “Iron” how he “felt about him.”
“Nothing negative towards nobody in interviews online,” Poirier said via Sportskeeda.com. “If I have something to say, I’m going to say it when the person’s present and that’s what you saw right there. I had something to say to him and I got it off my chest, told him what I felt about him and that’s it. If he ain’t here to defend himself or for me to speak in front of him, we don’t need to talk about it.”
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jiri Prochazka Believes Poirier Started the Conflict With Chandler
When speaking recently with Helen Yee, current UFC 205-pound champion Jiri Prochazka shared his thoughts on the Poirier vs. Chandler altercation. Prochazka can be seen in the video beside Poirier and he recounted his take on the situation. And in short, “Denisa” said it was Poirier who got “aggressive” first.
“I was closest, next to Dustin and he started to be aggressive, to talk some trash talks and all this stuff for the Michael,” Prochazka said via Sportskeeda. “And they start to talk together. Nothing surprised for me but I saved them [laughs]. I just watched that and there was a guy from the UFC and they tried to fix it.”
And when asked directly if The Diamond was the instigator, Prochazka said, “I think, yeah,” and then shrugged.
The UFC 276 incident was preceded by the two going at it on social media multiple times, as well as speaking about each other in traditional media.
Poirier Ripped Chandler for Never Beating Someone Inside the Octagon Coming Off a Victory
When appearing on Ariel Helwani’s “The MMA Hour” in May, The Diamond ripped into Chandler, who was just coming off a devastating head kick KO win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274.
Poirier pointed to the fact that Chandler (2-2 UFC) has never beaten a fighter inside the Octagon who had won their fight prior. But, Poirier also said he was willing to fight Iron, even though he had dismissed the multiple-time Bellator lightweight champion in the past.
“He’s never beaten anybody coming off of a win in the UFC!” Poirier said via MMA Fighting. “He’s been dropped in his last three fights, he’s never beat somebody coming off of a win. What are Dan Hooker’s last five fights and what are Tony Ferguson’s last five fights, the two guys he beat in the UFC?
“What are their records in their last fights? And I’m not talking trash, I’m stating facts. It’s whatever, I’ll fight him too. I don’t care anymore, just book me something.”
Poirier hasn’t fought since his effort to claim 155-pound gold at UFC 269 in December. He lost to Charles Oliveira via third-round rear-naked choke.
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Dustin Poirier Breaks Silence on Incident With Michael Chandler at UFC 276