Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler Involved in Skirmish at UFC 276

Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler Involved in Skirmish at UFC 276

Wow 🤩 @DustinPoirier vs @MikeChandlerMMA pic.twitter.com/Dw7aYb9ueV

— Gilbert Burns DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) July 3, 2022

Two of the world’s best lightweights haven’t officially signed any contracts to lock horns with one another, but it now makes perfect sense for Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler to get it on sooner rather than later.

During the prelims at UFC 276 Saturday night inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the two contenders were involved in a heated skirmish in the crowd. Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight contender Gilbert Burns was there and filmed the altercation and Tweeted it, creating hysteria within the mixed martial arts world.

As of this writing, it’s unknown as to what exactly started the fracas between the two, but after Poirier and Chandler began yelling expletives and threats, several security guards and T-Mobile staff had to intervene, preventing an all-out brawl.

Poirier threatened Chandler and called the former Bellator MMA champion a “fake.”

Everything may have began at the end of 2021 when Chandler Tweeted that he would “never quit” in a huge fight, taking a jab at Poirier for being submitted by Charles Oliveira in their December world title fight in the same arena at UFC 269.

Poirier had won three consecutive fights leading up to his loss to Oliveira, with two of those wins being TKO wins over Conor McGregor. “The Diamond” had won three straight and seven of eight overall heading into his match with Oliveira.

Chandler, meanwhile, is a three-time Bellator lightweight champion and arguably the greatest fighter in that promotion’s history. Following wins over Benson Henderson and Dan Hooker, Chandler dropped back-to-back bouts to Oliveira and Justin Gaethje before bouncing back with a spectacular knockout win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 274 in May.