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In the aftermath of UFC 276, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler continue to edge towards a possible matchup. The UFC lightweight division is arguably the promotion's most stacked weight class, with only the bantamweight division as a potential contender.
Both Poirier and Chandler have taken aim at the UFC lightweight championship. 'The Diamond' himself has attempted to capture the title twice, falling short both times.
'Iron' — a three-time Bellator lightweight champion — earned a title shot off the strength of a 1st round knockout over Dan Hooker, ultimately failing to capture the then vacant lightweight championship against Charles Oliveira.
Upon signing with the UFC, Michael Chandler expressed an interest in facing Dustin Poirier, but the suggestion was turned down by the former interim lightweight champion.
However, in the wake of Chandler's stunning front-kick knockout over Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier's tune shifted, while now 'Iron' is the one waving off the idea of fighting the Louisiana native.
It all led to a cageside confrontation between the two at UFC 276, with the current light heavyweight champion Jiří Procházka, of all people, jokingly claiming to have kept the two separate.
Given the history involving both Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier, it would be wise for the UFC to book a matchup between the two lightweights. This list explores 5 reasons why.
#5. There is history between the two
In the wake of Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement from MMA, the lightweight title he once held became vacant. At UFC 257, Conor McGregor locked horns with Dustin Poirier in the first rematch between the pair.
What initially began as Dana White's attempt at fast-tracking McGregor into a money-making rematch with Nurmagomedov with a victory over Poirier, was quickly flipped on its head when 'The Diamond' scored a massive upset over the Irishman.
In the same event, Michael Chandler became one of only three men to finish Dan Hooker with strikes. At the UFC 257 post-fight press conference, Poirier was asked about the potential of a matchup with 'Iron' for the then vacant lightweight championship.
The Louisiana native quickly shot down the idea, citing his grievances with Michael Chandler signing with the promotion and possibly earning a title shot by beating an opponent that Dustin Poirier himself had already bested.
The snub was not forgotten by the three-time Bellator champion, with Chandler now being the one turning the matchup away.
For a promotion that struggles to generate interest in most bouts that don't involve marquee names, the UFC has a promotional goldmine to dip into for this potential fight.
#4. The matchup will be exciting
A bout between Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier is likely to produce fireworks. Both men have high finishing rates and have rarely coasted to comfortable decision wins in recent memory.
With the UFC experiencing more growth every year, it is in the promotion's interest to book a fight that is guaranteed to stir further fan interest by the time the fighters involved face off in the octagon.
While it is important to generate fan interest for an upcoming bout with video packages, press conferences and other media events, ensuring that the in-cage performance itself both retains and attracts new fans is no less important.
The stylistic clash that would arise between Chandler and Poirier facing each other in the octagon would be thrilling. A knockdown is almost a guarantee. 'Iron' favors overhands and hooks when throwing punches.
To land a left hook, one must willingly put themselves in a position to be countered by their opponent's left hook due to the short arc of the punch. Dustin Poirier, a crafty boxer who can fight from both stances, possesses a thunderous check hook he uses to counter overzealous foes.
Whether the fight will result in a knockout is irrelevant, as it will almost certainly result in a high-octane bout with knockdowns and a potential Fight of the Night contender.
#3. It is a co-main event that can support a weaker card
Unless the card in question features two champions defending their titles, a Poirier-Chandler matchup is a guaranteed co-main event bout that can only take place on a pay-per-view card.
While it might be tempting to use the bout to reinforce a highly stacked PPV card, the fight can also be used to increase the buyrates for an event with less star power.
Michael Chandler, a former Bellator world champion with exciting knockout wins and thrilling promos in the UFC, has endeared himself to the promotion's fans.
While he is by no means a star, he is one of the better known fighters in the promotion. Dustin Poirier, on the other hand, was introduced not only to the casual fanbase but mainstream sports media as a whole due to his two memorable victories over the sport's most famous fighter, Conor McGregor.
Poirier's last main event fight saw him draw around 500,000 PPV buys in his second failed bid at capturing lightweight gold at UFC 269. He is a reliable name whose two recent fights with McGregor have enabled him to draw the interest of casual fans in a way that not many other fighters can.
Thus, a matchup with Chandler can be used to increase the buyrate of a card headlined by lesser-known champions.
#2. Both men are at a crossroads
The chances of either man finally capturing lightweight gold are slim. The division grows more stacked by the day and Chandler isn't getting any younger. He's 36 years old in a weight class that is often unkind to fighters edging towards their 40s.
Furthermore, he's 2-2 in the UFC with his only wins coming over Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson, both of whom have not managed to assemble a win streak in 2-3 years and are 1-4 in their last five bouts. Every other time 'Iron' has faced a foe closer to the top three, he's lost.
Dustin Poirier, on the other hand, seems destined for a career as a top contender and nothing more. Twice now, he's failed to win the lightweight title against two different champions.
He cannot drop back down to featherweight either as the weight cut has grown far more demanding the more he's filled out his frame, nor was his toughness at featherweight what it is at lightweight given his depleted nature in the lower weight class.
He's better suited to pursuing exciting action fights akin to what Donald Cerrone did prior to his decline. With the title aspirations of both fighters growing dimmer by the day, the UFC should consider extracting as much value from them by scheduling them to meet for a thrilling fight to draw fan interest before it's a few years too late.
#1. The time is right
The stars have aligned for Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler to face each other, and the UFC must strike while the iron is hot. The most recent UFC event was UFC 276.
Both Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler were cageside, and both took part in a verbal altercation captured by top welterweight contender Gilbert Burns. The incident never escalated to a physical brawl, but as tempers flared, the fear that the two fighters would come to blows became palpable.
While the scuffle was broken up by event security, Chandler later took to Twitter with a post that many believe was aimed at Poirier. The tweet in question, which did not mention Dustin Poirier by name, appeared to call out the Louisiana native's apparent desperation for the bout and that it was causing him to act out of character.
The tweet seemed to further urge that 'The Diamond' behave professionally lest his insecurities show. The UFC has never shied away from using incidents outside the cage to promote fights as evidenced by their use of Conor McGregor's infamous bus attack to generate hype for UFC 229.
With the incident involving Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier being so recent, now is the right time for the UFC to begin building towards the bout.
