It was a heartbreak! Not a single one of us wanted the anticipated UFC 303 clash between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler to get cancelled after creating hype for so long. And even if it did get cancelled, he had a subtle hope that the MMA gods would pay heed to our prayers and bring ‘The Notorious’ back to the Octagon for the final two fights in his UFC contract. However, even that seemed a bit too far away with the former double champ trying his best to become the next Irish President.
And in the meantime, Chandler had arguably given up on the dream of fighting ‘Mystic Mac’. Instead, he faced Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 and Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314, but lost both of the bouts in emphatic fashion. However, the shades of this fight started to appear yet again when McGregor stirred the pot yet again. The Dubliner posted two separate messages on his socials last month after the massive success of WrestleMania 41. “Iron Mike Chandler. Unfinished business,” followed by “I’ll only come back to a stadium.”
And as predicted, ‘Iron’ was once again onboard. “Unfinished business loading…” followed by “Dust off the old contract and add some new ink…” But these rumors once again faded as they have in the past! However, Chandler has now received yet another unusual challenge. And the challenge came from the #14 lightweight contender, Grant Dawson.
The fighter from Cambria was upset about the fact that even though he was on a 3-fight win streak with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss in the UFC, he ranked lower than Chandler, who was on a 3-fight losing streak. Taking to X, ‘KGD’ wrote, “Im 11-1 in the UFC it wouldn’t make much sense for me to call out a man who is 2-5 in the ufc who’s a decade older than me but you guys keep ranking him ahead of me so screw it. [Michael Chandler] wanna do his in July!?!?”
Soon, Dawson’s words went viral as Fight Bananas Official shared the tweet on their Instagram profile. And this is where Dustin Poirier came rushing in. He took to the comments section and approved the matchup for Chandler. All that ‘The Diamond’ wanted for the UFC to do now was to “Put it in New Orleans!!” Yes, this meant that Poirier was asking the UFC to schedule this bout at UFC 318 in his hometown, where the former interim champ is set to headline the card against Max Holloway in his swansong.
Moreover, he also dismissed the possibility of McGregor fighting Chandler in the near future. To add to Poirier’s support, Henry Cejudo also thought of Dawson vs. Chandler as a good matchup. He commented with three fire emojis.
But what about the former UFC double champion? Didn’t ‘The Diamond’ believe that McGregor would soon make a comeback? And wasn’t he supposed to fight Chandler upon his return? Let’s see what the former interim lightweight champion previously said about McGregor’s return.
What does Dustin Poirier think about the return of Conor McGregor?
The last time we saw McGregor compete was at UFC 264 in 2021. This is where Poirier claimed the win after the Irishman broke his leg in a pretty gruesome manner. Nevertheless, the fighting community didn’t really dismiss the idea of McGregor’s return. Even though the Dubliner escaped from making a return on multiple occasions. But this time, during a conversation with the Outta Pocket podcast, Poirier believed in McGregor’s return. However, his words had one condition.
He said, “I’d love to talk down, talk trash on Conor, but if anybody can put it all together and come back, this guy can. If he can find that passion and that fire and put it together. I’m not saying anybody can, but this guy can. He’s special. He has something special, but only he knows when he looks in the mirror if he can really do it again. But if he believes it, I believe he could.”
But does this mean we can witness Poirier and McGregor go against each other for one last time? Well, not really. ‘The Diamond’ is already set to fight Max Holloway in his swansong at UFC 318 with the BMF title on the line. It’d be a good stop for the Lafayette resident’s legacy. And if he fought ‘The Notorious’ once more, it’d be just for the monetary aspects. On top of that, there was uncertainty regarding the Irishman’s return.
What do you think of the matchup between Chandler and Dawson? Will ‘Iron’ ever get to battle Conor McGregor in the Octagon? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Ignoring Conor McGregor Comeback, Dustin Poirier Gives Green Signal for Michael Chandler’s Next UFC Fight appeared first on EssentiallySports.
