Michael Chandler reacts after Dustin Poirier rejects lightweight title fight: “He might end up just being a hot sauce salesman”

Michael Chandler thinks it is “a little bit weird” that Dustin Poirier isn’t interested in fighting for the UFC lightweight championship next.

Chandler and Poirier both earned sensational stoppage victories at last months UFC 257 pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi.

The former Bellator champion scored a thunderous first round knockout win over Dan Hooker, while Dustin Poirier was able to exact his revenge against Conor McGregor with a second round TKO.

Following their impressive performances on Fight Island, UFC President Dana White suggested that a fight between Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier “made sense”.

However, ‘The Diamond’ recently rejected White’s proposal and instead suggested that the promotion should book Chandler vs surging contender Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title.

“I want to be the world champion, and Charles is a guy that’s paid his dues. He’s earned where he’s at, no doubt about it. Let him and Chandler fight for the belt. If they want Chandler in there for the title, and he’s calling for the title. Let them fight for the belt. I’ll take a step back and just watch,” Poirier said to MMAjunkie.com.

Image Credit: @ufc on Twitter

Like many, Michael Chandler was surprised by Poirier’s recent remarks.

“I do think it’s a little bit weird,” Chandler told MMA Fighting when reacting to Poirier’s comments. “No matter what, who I was before UFC 257 is much different in the eyes of the fans, the media, the rankings than who I am now after UFC 257. With the dominant performance that I put on against a guy that I finished in two-and-a-half minutes that took him 25 minutes to win a decision against. But Dustin Poirier is a champion in his own right. I believe he should be one half of the lightweight title picture, and it just remains to be seen who it will be. Dana White came out right away and said, ‘Man, Chandler’s performance, Poirier’s performance, seems like it makes sense for those two guys to fight next for the title.’”

Michael Chandler continued:

“He said if they want Chandler to fight for the title, he’ll go sell hot sauce, and truthfully he might end up just being a hot sauce salesman for the next six months, because I think the title picture is going to move on,” the former Bellator champion said. “I’m not saying I’m going to be one half of it, but I do know life is about opportunities. Life is about saying yes. Life is about performance, especially in this industry. I’ve said yes to every opportunity. I’ve said yes at the drop of a hat with the UFC thinking, ‘Holy cow, this guy’s a little bit nuts for saying yes to this but I love it.’”

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