Dustin Poirier thinks it’s time for Michael Chandler to hang up the gloves.
Last month, Michael Chandler suffered his fourth consecutive loss when Mauricio Ruffy knocked him out at UFC White House. Not only was it Chandler’s fourth loss, but the former Bellator lightweight champion has just a 2-6 record in the UFC, and at 40 years old, many wonder how much longer Chandler has left in the sport.
Apparently, the answer is still some time, because following the loss, Chandler posted to social media, saying
he was ready to “get back on the horse,” and his former opponent, Poirier, has just one question: why?
“With all due respect, we’ve buried the hatchet and shook hands, but Michael Chandler, what are you doing?” Poirier said on the Deep Waters show …
“I saw a thing; I don’t know if this is official news, but he said he might move up to welterweight. If 155ers are stopping you and you’re taking all this damage, what are 170s gonna do?
“I want to know what he’s fighting for.”
Retirement can often be a tricky subject for older fighters. Poirier, who retired last year, went on to say that one of the biggest problems is how fighters can convince themselves of their abilities, even when it’s apparent to everyone else.
“That’s what they always say: the fighter is the last one to know,” Poirier said. “Everybody around them knows it’s time to hang them up; the fighter’s the last one to know. …
“Fighters are bad to make that decision, because even if you’re losing in the gym, you’re like, ‘On fight night, when that bell rings, I’m putting it all together! This is practice!”
And as Poirier noted, even when a fighter might know the game has passed them, they can still delude themselves into thinking they can pull it off.
“The problem is, power is the last thing to go, and we all think we could land that shot that ends the fight at any time,” Poirier said. “So it keeps people coming back. ‘I just need to land that one shot. I might be slower, my reactions might be slower, my hands might be slower, but I just need one.’”
Whatever is keeping Chandler from retirement, “Iron” seems like he’s at least planning on one more fight before hanging up the gloves. And if that is the case, there’s one fight Poirier could live with.
“If Conor recovers, and has a fight left on his contract, Chandler was trailed along with the Conor fight,” Poirier said.
