“My finger shouldn’t have been in his mouth” Michael Chandler defends Dustin Poirier’s bite at UFC 281

Dustin Poirier secured a submission victory over the former lightweight title challenger, Michael Chandler, at UFC 281 on November 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

Dustin Poirier is an American MMA fighter who currently competes in the UFC’s lightweight division, where he held the interim UFC Lightweight title. Diamond fought 36 times in his professional MMA career, winning 28 times and losing seven. 

“Without fear there is no bravery.”

Nothing but respect between @DustinPoirier & @MikeChandlerMMA 🤝 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/ZO80qyo6lX

— UFC (@ufc) November 13, 2022

Whereas the three-time Bellator lightweight champion, Michael Chandler, made his UFC debut in September 2020; after that, he entered the octagon four times and secured victories twice. Iron is famous for action and punching power, and in March 2022, he knocked out big-name Tony Ferguson, which was his last victory in the octagon.

The flame of the fight between Chandler and Poirier is still burning; initially, after the fight, Diamond calls Chandler a “mo***f**er” and also accuses him of cheating by using a fish hook during the middle of the fight.

But Iron strongly disagreed with the allegation in a recent interview with MMA Hour. He stated that he does not like to be called a cheater as he possesses enormous love and respect for this sport and its fans. 

“But yeah, it doesn’t feel good  I don’t like to hear that because, whatever, there are going to be people that say things no matter what, be accused of things win, lose, or draw. But I love this sport, and I would never cheat.”

Aside from the cheating allegation, there was a controversy going on about Poirier biting Chandler’s finger during the fight. For that incident, Poirier felt guilty, but it appears the incident was fine with Chandler, as he believes it was not the diamond’s fault.

“He did bite my finger, which isn’t cheating, because my finger shouldn’t have been in his mouth. I think that’s when I realized, OK, that’s not the chin,’ because he’s biting down on my hand, and obviously, that’s when I let go.”