Michael Chandler couldn’t resist aiming a little jab at his old rival Dustin Poirier while congratulating his teammate on Saturday night.
The two former lightweight title contenders had a fight of the year contender in 2022, but the feud lives on between them despite Poirier landing a submission win. And Chandler had a very subtle dig while sending a message of support to Michael Johnson after his knockout win over Ottman Azaitar.
Johnson landed a stunning second round stoppage over Azaitar at UFC Tampa to earn his first finish victory in over two years. And he joked that he might have actually called out Chandler after the fact.
- Who is Dustin Poirier? All you need to know about UFC’s legendary Lightweight ‘Diamond’
Michael Johnson lands KO win over Ottman Azaitar at UFC Tampa
Despite his years of service to the promotion and some impressive wins, Michael Johnson landed on the prelims of UFC Tampa. But it didn’t seem to matter as he landed a massive knockout that may see him end up on the bonus list for the night.
Action kicked off with a relatively close first as Johnson began to feel his way into proceedings against the dangerus Azaitar. Until losing to Matt Frevola in 2022, the Moroccan had been a terrifying undefeated force, but has since fallen to a number of knockout losses.
And when Johnson landed a huge counter right hand, he became the third man in a row to stop Azaitar. Referee Jason Herzog couldn’t step in quickly enough and the American was sure to finish the fight with a few huge punches to the already out-cold 34-year-old Morrocan.
Michael Chandler trolls Dustin Poirier while congratulating Michael Johnson
Social media was abuzz after Johnson’s big win, but nobody seemed more pleased than his Kill Cliff MMA teammate Michael Chandler. The former Bellator champion took to X to heap praise on his pal, particularly regarding his right hand.
“My man @Menace155 has the bet right hook in the world,” Chandler wrote in the first of a series of tweets. “In all of MMA. Dude’s still got it!” He followed it up with a video of the finish, which he captioned: “Best right hook in UFC history. #changemymind”
However, it was his third tweet that showed he is still willing to take a jab at his old rival Dustin Poirier. He, seemingly out of nowhere, shared a video of Johnson knocking out Poirier in their 2016 clash, again captioning it “Best right hook in UFC HISTORY. Never forget this one.”
Fans were quick to jump to Poirier’s defence in the comments, reminding Chandler that he had been stopped when the pair actually fought. Many shared photos and videos of the rear naked choke finish that his rival landed, mocking him for what they believed to be a petty tweet.
And Poirier hit back quickly, taking to X to respond to the cheeky message by telling Chandler: “Remember when I beat your ass? You are 2-4 in the ufc Muscle Milk Mike.” He also reposted a fan sharing footage of him dropping Chandler, adding: “Don’t forget this one.”
Michael Johnson was considering calling out Michael Chandler after UFC Tampa win
Interestingly, Johnson joked during his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping that he was considering calling out Chandler, despite the fact that they are teammates. However, he appeared to have turned his back on the idea by the time they were discussing.
“This is my promotion, I don’t care where I am on the card, I’ve been in this business for 15 years, I’ve seen everything, I am the UFC when it comes down to really in here fighting,” he said in his octagon interview.
I’m 38 and I’m not stopping any time soon. I’m getting right back to the top baby. I’ve always got to get on the mic and call out some people. I’ve got a teammate that I wanted to call out, Bobby Green, Drew Dober.
“I was going to call Michael Chandler out because he’s always yelling his mouth but he’s my guy so I’m not going to mess with him.”
- Who is Michael Chandler? Meet the iconic lightweight MMA fighter with a flare for the dramatic