Chael Sonnen recently weighed in on the upcoming lightweight clash between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler. While Sonnen has little doubt about Poirier beating Chandler in a five-round affair, the UFC veteran admits that things are different in a three-round clash.
According to Sonnen, Chandler has tremendous wrestling skills which can be utilized to secure an early takedown and control the round. The 45-year-old said on his YouTube channel:
“Michael Chandler vs. Dustin Poirier for twenty-five minutes. I feel fairly comfortable in my predcition that Poirier wins that match… When you shorten it to three rounds, things just changed. That takedown ability of Chandler is real. It exists. And should Chandler execute that takedown ability… I think he can ride out an entire round. Now you’ve got two rounds left and Chandler’s only gotta grab one of them.”
In his closing remarks about the fight, Sonnen opined that Poirier’s pressure and pace are often undermined, except by his former opponents.
“Poirier has never been given credit for his ability to weaponize pace. And the only people that will talk about that are Dustin’s former opponents. You will get Max Holloway… You will get Gaethje, You will get Eddie Alvarez to talk about how hard and in your face Poirier is.”
Watch Sonnen’s comments below (8:22):
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Michael Chandler is well aware of Dustin Poirier’s toughness
The UFC 281 clash between Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier has been touted as the ‘People’s main-event’. Apart from being massive draws on the UFC roster, Chandler and Poirier have a combined total of 39 finishes between them.
Chandler claims Poirier is an opponent who scares him and therefore makes him want to train harder. According to ‘Iron’, Poirier has the will of a champion, which makes him “unbreakbale.” Chandler said in an interview with SuperBook Sports:
“One thing that can’t be discounted is the will of a man. When you look at Dustin Poirier, he’s unbreakable. He’s got the will of a champion. It’s going to be a tough, hard-fought battle. I know exactly who I am fighting. And it’s a guy that scares me, it’s a guy that wakes me up in the morning and wants me to train hard.”