Dustin Poirier knows the perfect UFC opponent for Michael Chandler to debut against
As reported by MMA Junkie, Dustin Poirier asserted that he’d like to see new UFC signee Michael Chandler face Justin Gaethje.
Poirier believes that Michael Chandler is likely to face former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in what would be Chandler’s first fight in the UFC.
Michael Chandler’s first UFC opponent is yet to be revealed
Over the past few weeks, the consensus in the MMA community has been that Michael Chandler is likely to face Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker, Rafael dos Anjos, or Tony Ferguson in his UFC debut.
Chandler is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in Bellator history and parted ways with the promotion earlier this year, eventually signing with the UFC.
The former Bellator lightweight champion’s last fight was contested under the Bellator MMA promotional banner. He impressively beat former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson via first-round KO in the fight that took place in August 2020.
Dustin Poirier suggests that Justin Gaethje would be the ideal UFC debut matchup for Michael Chandler
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov faced interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 256. The lightweight title unification clash was set to take place on October 24th, 2020.
Ahead of UFC 256, Chandler served as the replacement fighter for the all-important headlining bout, in case either Nurmagomedov or Gaethje had to pull out from the fight due to injury or other issues.
Regardless, both Nurmagomedov and Gaethje did end up fighting one another at UFC 256, with Nurmagomedov besting Gaethje via second-round submission and successfully unifying the lightweight championship.
Following this, the vast majority of MMA fans and experts have been speculating as to which top lightweight Chandler could face in his first UFC matchup.
As noted, some of the names that have been rumored to be in the running for a fight against Michael Chandler are Justin Gaethje, Dan Hooker, Rafael dos Anjos, and Tony Ferguson.
However, with Ferguson being booked to face Charles Oliveira at UFC 256 and Dos Anjos having recently fought Paul Felder, the belief is that either Gaethje or Hooker could face Chandler in the months to come.
Dustin Poirier – who’s set to face Conor McGregor at UFC 257 on January 23rd, 2021 – has now explained why he believes Gaethje would be the best opponent to welcome Michael Chandler to the UFC. Dustin Poirier stated:
“I would think it would probably be him and Gaethje before him and Hooker…If you’re going to toss him into the top of the division and giving him this push, give him the former interim champ who just came off a title fight. That’s a great measuring stick to see where he’s at.”
What are your views on Dustin Poirier’s statements regarding Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje? Do you agree with Dustin Poirier's assessment? Sound off in the comments.