Michael Chandler Has No Regrets Over Performance Against Dustin Poirier, Addresses Cheating Accusations

The heavy-handed lightweight has addressed his performance from this past weekend.

Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Beneil Dariush
Credit: Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler (via Instagram)

Michael Chandler has no regrets about his performance against Dustin Poirier this past weekend.

Over the weekend, Chandler and Poirier met on the main card of UFC 281 on pay-per-view (PPV). It was a great scrap between the two, as expected, but in the end, it was Poirier who locked in the rear-naked choke for the victory. Many argue that Chandler was winning the contest up until the finish.

With that being said, despite the defeat, Chandler is not disappointed with the performance he put on inside the cage, but that doesn’t mean he’s content with defeat either.

Michael Chandler Breaks Down Poirier Loss

Speaking to Bussin’ With The Boys, Chandler explained that he gave it everything he had against Poirier inside the Octagon. For that reason, he has no regrets about his performance. While that doesn’t mean he’s content with defeat, and believes you should always strive for victory, he also knows that there’s great accomplishment in leaving it all out on the table.

“You can’t have regrets if you put full effort out,” Chandler said. “If you give I think that’s where I’m trying to get at too that I can’t really put into perspective. People are probably just like, ‘Dude you sound like a loser right now, you’re completely okay with losing. You’re completely okay with falling short.’ And I’m not, but I also am because I think there’s so much freedom in that.

“You can’t live in full freedom unless you’re completely okay with losing as well. I don’t want young kids to be like ‘Oh, it’s okay to lose.’ Because i want you to work extremely hard, I want you to be disciplined, I want you to try and become your best self. I want my sons to know that it’s okay to lose, but you deserve to win. But I think in the deserving to win, you also have to – when you’re putting yourself out there and being the man in the arena, and being the guy who puts himself completely out there, you’re going to take losses. It’s going to happen.”

There was also the discussion of Chandler being accused of cheating in the fight. Particularly hitting Poirier in the back of the head and trying to fishhook him. Chandler explained why all of these accusations are false, and he always competes to the upmost of his integrity. 

“The back of the head thing, did one or two of those punches catch his head? Yes. After he turned his head, but I was catching his ear with every single one of them. That’s why the referee was there watching the entire time. He said ‘Watch the back of the head,’ and soon as he did I said ‘I caught his ear,’ and after that was there any more punches to the back of the head?

“No. All of them were clean except for maybe one or two after he turned his head, and that’s actually a part of mixed martial arts that we’re told – if a guy turns his head in order for you to punch him in the back of the head, you get those one or two shots, because you didn’t do it intentionally. The actual head moved. The fishhook thing was not a fishhook. A fishhook is on the lip and on the skin. It was actually on his mouthpiece, which I actually thought was his chin.

“I reached down and grabbed here, because I was going to pull his chin up. I thought I had his chin but I didn’t realize I was in his mouth and I didn’t really realize it until he bit down on my hand, and I was like ‘Oh shoot, okay.’ And by that point my elbow was stuck on the – so, you know.”

Published on November 16, 2022 at 1:06 pm
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