And it's fight week! So it's our favourite week (again). Off the bat, Iron Michael looks so formal compared to Iron Mike, but anyway. I'm really looking forward to this good old slugger, it could potentially be a can't stop won't stop type of fight, much to the delightment of the fans. Okay, I really like Chandler, among my MMA circle I was buzzing when he finally signed for the UFC. Knowing him for his scraps in Bellator and hoping he would bring the same attitude and energy to his new home in the UFC, no disappointment at all.
"But Luke, he's 2-2 in his last four!!" Yes, but have you watched them, complete bangers and classics (still hurt over the Tony Ferguson knockout) and those losses are to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, so not shameful considering he was obliterating Oliveira in the first round and traded back and forth with Justin (funnily enough was one year ago yesterday). Now enter Dustin Poirier.
Very aware that Diamond had a high profile 2021 with his back to backs with Conor McGregor, great fights and oh so sweet revenge for Poirier and then the loss to Charlie Olives. Looking ahead of this fight, Chandler and Poirier are two scrappers, committed and game faced to stand and trade with each other, I love it.
So, who's the better striker? Technically it has to be Dustin, crisp boxing style and the mixing of calf kicks and a granite chin. Chandler is a heavy power puncher, always going for the knockout and when he lands, he lands. Historically he has had an issue with leg kicks, (see his loss to Brent Primus at Bellator NYC back in 2017). Now you bet your money on the fact that Mike Brown has been drilling leg kicks into all and any of Dustin's training and sparring sessions.
The grappling is a peculiar one for me, peculiar but interesting one for me. Chandler is a beast of a wrestler, Dustin being a BJJ blackbelt. Wrestler vs Jiu Jitsu is always a fun match up, gotta love a good scramble on the ground. We've seen Dustin trying a guillotine choke but to no prevail, so does Chandler break out of it and start reigning down with strikes? Probably, I would imagine so at least.
Overall this fight is going to be a banger, genuinely disappointed it hasn't been set as a five rounder (just encase it would go the distance) considering that UFC have now just been making random five round fights, although typically with good reason with no complaints. Personally for me, I think Chandler wins IF he doesn't rush in and/or just stand in front of Poirier trying to eat up leg kicks, Gaethje was tearing that leg up in their fight. Dustin could win it by as I said, being a technically sound striker by leading up to an eventual KO/TKO.
The countdown officially begins!
And again as always, yours truly,
L.
Top comments (5)
There's a few ways I can see this going. I think if Chandler wants to, he could probably put Poirier against the fence and GnP him for 3 rounds. Black Belt in high level MMA doesn't have a huge amount of weight (something Islam talked to DC about recently) as most of the top competition have black or brown belts.
However, because it's Chandler and he's allergic to the path of least resistance, I think he's going to try and strike at least partially. For that reason I think I'm picking Poirier. Chandler is like a coiled spring and if you hit him right he'll explode onto the floor and start backflipping to safety. If there's one thing to praise about Poirier, it's his finishing instinct and I think Chandler being pretty poor at hiding when he's hurt vs Poirier's relentless finish hunting when he knows he's got someone on the run is going to be the big decider.
That being said, Chandler could also just nuke him ala Michael Johnson
😂😂😂
"hoping he would bring the same attitude and energy to his new home in the UFC, no disappointment at all."
I became a huge fan when he appeared on the JRE podcast just before he was signed, very clever guy, comes across as a superb businessman (not sure how true that is), we need the pantomime in MMA sometimes with all the character playing but we also need someone like this, highly inspirational.
Agreed for a pantomime, spice things up and draw more attraction to the fighters and events. I'm a fan of the backflip off of the cage and the SEE YOU AT THE TOP
Yeah his backflip is insane, he really appeals to blue collar America, I can’t wait to see him perform again, he ain’t half got a difficult job on his hands