Dustin Poirier may not be the biggest Michael Chandler fan but he knows that it’s a battle to the very end when going up against him in the octagon.
That wasn’t necessarily the case at UFC 314 after Chandler was largely dominated and ultimately finished with ground and pound in the third round after Paddy Pimblett put on a stunning performance to beat the one-time title challenger. Well known for his action-packed style, Chandler scored an early takedown but he just never seemed to settle into any kind of rhythem before Pimblett started turning the tables on him.
After Pimblett scored with a jumping knee strike, he ended up on top of Chandler where he rained down a series of vicious blows that gave the referee no choice but to stop the fight. The loss dropped Chandler to 2-5 in the UFC with the Pimblett fight serving as his third straight defeat in a row overall.
“I think this whole week what we’ve been talking about his back was against the wall,” Poirier said about Chandler during the UFC 314 post-fight show. “The thing Anthony [Smith] didn’t like, the crossroads reference, I think that’s what that was. We saw him lose again tonight and not just lose but get rolled by a young guy. That was a beating.”
Even in his losses in the UFC, Chandler always seemed to give just as good as he was getting and he never ran out of steam even during five rounds fights.
But that wasn’t the case on Saturday with Poirier noting that Chandler looked exhausted after the end of the first round and that’s when Pimblett really started putting it on him.
At 38 years old with a career built on Fight of the Night performances, Poirier can’t help but wonder if Chandler’s best days are just behind him now.
“After the first round, he had some success with the takedown, with the wrist ride, just riding him out in that first round,” Poirier said. “He won that first round and just didn’t look like himself in the second.
“Didn’t look sturdy on his feet. Looked like he was slowing down, which we don’t see him ever slow down in the second round. He’s in phenomenal shape, looks great but these years catch up to you.”
It’s tough to argue with Poirier’s logic, especially given Chandler’s age and the lopsided nature of his previous two losses where he fell to Charles Oliveira in a fairly one-sided decision and then finished by Pimblett with strikes in the third round.
Immediately after the fight was over, Chandler jetted out of the octagon and he hasn’t addressed his loss yet.
As far as Pimblett goes, consider Poirier impressed after he first thought the lightweight from Liverpool was more hype than reality.
“I thought he was a goofy looking guy with a silly haircut that people are kind of getting behind like a fad,” Poirier said. “Like ‘oh this is fun, let’s cheer this goofy looking guy on!’ But when you have a perfect storm like this where you are the goofy guy and you say these things and then you go out there and win fights, you become a massive star in the sport. That’s what he’s doing. He went from a prospect to a contender tonight. He’s a lightweight contender now.
“He’s in the top. Who doesn’t have a fight right now? Gaethje? Maybe Arman? Oliveira? All fun fights, all great fights. You don’t fight back now. You continue to fight up and go for the title. I think you give him one of those guys.”
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