Due to some controversy, the fight between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler at UFC 281 drew the most attention. Poirier appears to still hold a grudge against Chandler for his previous actions, which he considers to be cheating. Nonetheless, in a recent interview, the former interim lightweight champion discusses how that one incident at UFC 281 made him lose all respect for his rival.
Dustin Poirier, also known as The Diamond, claimed recently that Chandler’s cheating at Octagon was nothing new. However, at UFC 281, he openly went for some dirty fish-hooking moves on the 33-year-old in the back of the head. In a nutshell, dirty fish hooking is a tactic that is considered illegal by the sport. Although fish-hooking is prohibited in MMA, Chandler got saved because referee Dan Miragliotta missed that part of the fight.
During the post-fight interview, the No. 2 UFC lightweight fighter stated that he does not want an apology but rather wants Michael to be honest. Throughout the interview, he emphasized the significance of having genuine and honest competition between two fighters. However, Iron Mike isn’t so admitting about the issue and thinks they both have their own flaws in the octagon at that moment.
When Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler went to war! pic.twitter.com/2Yx8hjS4ly
— MMA Videos (@MMAVideos6) January 1, 2023
In response to his adversary’s accusations, the three-time Bellator lightweight champion explained that it wasn’t all black and white. The 36-year-old made an effort to make his stance clear on the issue while adding that Poirier was biting on his fingers with all his might despite his best efforts to get them out of his mouth. As a result, he found it difficult to remove his fingers from Poirier’s mouth. However, it’s safe to say that regardless of the issues, a fight between these two fighters is always entertaining for the fans.
