Beneil Dariush doesn’t think Michael Chandler should get a title shot if he defeats Dustin Poirier.
Chandler received a UFC title shot after knocking out Dan Hooker in his Octagon debut. After losing to Charles Oliveira for the vacant title, ‘Iron’ then dropped a unanimous decision to Justin Gaethje. He most recently got back into the win column with a nasty knockout over Tony Ferguson.
Although he’s just 2-2 in the UFC, Chandler believes if he defeats Poirier he should get a title shot, which Dariush disagrees with.
“Honestly, I think he’s just trying to hype himself up. I don’t think that’s true. But if that does happen, man, that’s basically a clown show. What? The guy just had a title shot and lost and then lost again. So it doesn’t make sense. After I beat Gamrot, I don’t think there’s anyone who could step in front of me,” Dariush said to Helen Yee.
Of course, Dariush is set to fight Mateusz Gamrot in a potential number one contender fight at UFC 280. It is the same card as the lightweight title fight so the timing works for the winner to get the title shot, but it certainly isn’t out of the question for the winner of Chandler-Poirier to be fighting for the belt next.
However, for Dariush, he doesn’t expect Chandler to even play a role in the title picture as he believes Poirier will beat him at UFC 281.
“I think if it’s three rounds, 60-40 I lean towards Dustin,” Dariush said.
“Only because Michael Chandler’s focused so much on being exciting, I think he actually gives up a lot of his skill sets. I think he could actually do way better than he’s done. I think he’s, what, 2-2 in the UFC? I think he could be undefeated right now if he had a better mindset, but he’s so focused on being entertaining and exciting, he’s lost two fights.”
