Michael Chandler is reflecting on his UFC 281 loss to Dustin Poirier.
In what was named “Fight of the Night” at the massive UFC 281 fight card, Michael Chandler lost via submission to Dustin Poirier on the main card. The bout was a possible title contender bout in the lightweight division. Poirier will move on and keep himself in the mix but Chandler’s future seems unclear.
Immediately following the bout Poirier seemed unhappy with Chandler. In the post-fight press conference, he accused Chandler of cheating. He said that Chandler intentionally blew blood on him and put his hand into his mouth during the fight.
Michael Chandler responded to Dustin Poirier calling him a dirty fighter
Poirier was not too happy with the events that transpired during his UFC 281 fight with Chandler. He has since called Chandler “nasty” and spoke about how he believed Chandler intentionally put his hand in his mouth during the fight. Poirier even said he had to bite Chandler in order to get him to remove his hand. Chandler was a guest on The MMA Hour where he had his chance to respond.
“I meant to reach down and grab his chin, turns out my hand went into his mouth. People think that we’re in there making decisions like me, making the decision to pick up this pen. It’s not the same when you’re actually inside of the confines of mixed martial arts and you’re fighting for your life. You’re reaching for things you’re grabbing for things, you’re grappling, a lot of it is muscle memory,” he said. “As I said, when I took a guy’s back, and I drilled it 1000 times, take a guy’s back, reach down, grab the chin, lift the chin, and then go for the choke. So yes, do I think I need to apologize? I don’t think I do. Do I think it was something that could that people could say, ‘Hey, that was that was dirty or that was illegal.’ Yes, I could definitely see what you’re saying.”
Chandler wanted to make it clear that he did not mean to do anything illegal in the fight and expressed his respect for his former foe. He wants the fans to know that he is a respectable fighter.
“But 31 fights, you know, my reputation. I’ve got a good reputation in this sport. I love this sport. I don’t cheat the sport. I don’t cheat to win. This one was just an unfortunate circumstance and chain of events that I wish didn’t happen, but they did. And also that’s why we have referees there,” he said. “But I love this sport, and I would never cheat.”
Chandler has one fight on his mind following the loss, he wants to welcome Conor McGregor back to the UFC when he is ready. McGregor has been absent since the summer of 2021 and has removed himself from the USADA testing pool. He will need six months back in the pool before returning.
