Dustin Poirier Breaks Silence on Michael Chandler’s UFC Grudge Fight Comments

Getty UFC fighter Dustin Poirier attends UFC 271.

UFC superstar Dustin Poirier responded to Michael Chandler, who claimed that their upcoming fight would be personal for him.

Poirier is set to take on former UFC title challenger Chandler on the main card of UFC 281 on Nov. 12 in the promotion’s grand return to Madison Square Garden in New York. Having never suffered two defeats in a row, Poirier goes into the bout looking to get back to winning ways after a nearly year-long hiatus.

In an interview with Heavy ahead of his long-awaited grudge match with Chandler, CELSIUS-sponsored athlete Poirier shared his thoughts on Chandler’s recent comments suggesting that the outing would be personal for him not because of the opponent but the situation.

“Nah, it’s business,” Poirier said. “Of course, every fight has a small percentage of it being personal throughout training camp, the grind you’re putting in. We are going to go out there and try to hurt each other so that’s personal but this is business. I’ve been doing this too long. I don’t get caught up in all that.”

‘Diamond’ finds similarities with his foe in their mindset but argues his distinction.

“We both bite down and try to finish people. We’re similar in that way. I think our fighting styles are very different for sure.”

Poirier Expanded on the Origins of His Relationship With Chandler

Before Chandler made his way into the UFC, he crossed paths with Poirier at a Bellator event. After he joined the promotion, the two got to compete on the same night and even had a brief conversation. Poirier claims that Chandler did not give him the same energy as he did in his interviews with the media and reasoned it to be why he got into an altercation with him in July while attending UFC 276.

“I’m not really sure honestly. We’ll see. It doesn’t matter either way to me. The thing with me and him at the event, whenever I saw him and I told him. I just had some stuff I wanted to get off my chest. Because me and him have talked personally in the past at events. Once at a Bellator event, once at a UFC event, we both fought in Abu Dhabi.

“He was just a different person in person than compared to interviews and all that stuff. So when I saw him again that was the first time I’ve seen him since. Me and him sat down next to each other and spoke. I just wanted to let him know what I thought about him.”

Poirier Shared His Favorite CELSIUS Products

Poirier has been a long-time user of CELSIUS products and gave his take on the items he found best for his training.

“I do like CELSIUS BCAA drinks I drink after training but just in my fitness journey to get down to weight, to maintain weight,” Poirier said. “CELSIUS definitely helps me. I really do believe that it boosts my metabolism and it’s got the perfect amount of caffeine to not get me jittery. It’s perfect, man. The thing is with CELSIUS, I’ve been using them before I was endorsed by the company or I started to endorse them, I was a fan, me and my wife were buying them at the grocery stores.”

“I like the Heat, for a pre-workout,” Poirier added. “I do the heat, those have a little more caffeine and get you going. But just for everyday normal life, these smaller can CELSIUS, like Arctic vibe or Peach vibe, those. Actually, I like cola.”